4 September 2019: 

The first Global Position Statement on the use of testosterone in the treatment of women, led by the International Menopause Society (IMS), was published on September 2nd in four leading international medical journals:

• Climacteric
• Maturitas
• The Journal of Sexual Medicine
• The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The statement was authored by a diverse team of leading experts belonging to nine leading medical internationally-esteemed organisations:

• The International Menopause Society
• The International Society for Sexual Medicine
• The Federacion Latinoamericana de Sociedades de Climaterio y Menopausia
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• The North American Menopause Society
• The European Menopause and Andropause Society
• The International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health
• The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
• The Endocrine Society

and endorsed by several additional Societies.

Key messages to Health Care Professionals are:

• The consensus follows years of debate regarding testosterone therapy for women and, for the first time, provides agreement from experts about the known benefits and potential risks of testosterone therapy for premenopausal and postmenopausal women.
• Testosterone can be effective at improving sexual wellbeing for postmenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire dysfunction (HSDD). Benefits include improved sexual desire, function and pleasure, together with reduced concerns and distress about sex.
• There is insufficient data to support the use of testosterone for the treatment of any other symptom or clinical condition, or for disease prevention.
• As female formulations are not available, male formulations can be judiciously used in doses that achieve blood concentrations of testosterone that approximate premenopausal physiological concentrations.
• The panel recommends against the use of compounded testosterone.
• The international panel calls on industry, researchers and funding organisations to recognise the need for further research into testosterone therapy for menopausal women and the development and licensing of products indicated specifically for women.

Please visit https://www.imsociety.org to read the full consensus paper.

Translated versions in Arabic, Bahasa, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Mongolian, Russian, Spanish, of the consensus statement are available on the International Menopause Society website.