Anticipated Stigma, Illness Identity, and Quality of Life in Male Hypogonadism
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- This is an observational study: the protocol does not assign a study treatment.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Hypogonadism, Male, Endocrine Disease, Hypertension. Basic parameters: from 18 years · Male.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Turkey (Türkiye)
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
The Impact of Anticipated Illness Stigma and Illness Identity on Quality of Life in Men With Hypogonadism: A Comparative Study With Other Chronic Endocrine Diseases
Overview
This study aims to systematically compare the levels of anticipated illness stigma and illness identity among men diagnosed with hypogonadism to those of men with other chronic endocrine conditions (e.g., diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, and hypertension). Furthermore, it examines whether these psychosocial variables predict quality-of-life deterioration specifically within the hypogonadism cohort.
Detailed description
Hypogonadism is a chronic endocrine condition characterized by subnormal serum testosterone levels. Unlike other chronic metabolic conditions, hypogonadism directly threatens core attributes of male gender identity, including sexual function, physical capacity, and reproductive potential. While biological manifestations and medical management are well documented, the psychosocial dimensions of hypogonadism, specifically anticipated stigma and illness identity, remain insufficiently explored in clinical research.
Anticipated stigma involves cognitive expectations of negative reactions, judgment, or discrimination from interpersonal, occupational, and healthcare environments. In conditions where illness poses a direct threat to gender role identity, anticipated stigma may be heightened compared to non-identity-threatening chronic conditions such as diabetes or hypertension. Furthermore, the degree to which an individual integrates the diagnosis into their self-concept (illness identity) may interact with anticipated stigma to exacerbate health-related quality-of-life impairments.
This study systematically evaluates anticipated stigma and illness identity in men with hypogonadism in comparison to age-matched controls with other chronic endocrine conditions treated in the same clinical setting. The primary objective is to determine whether anticipated stigma levels differ significantly between these groups and to examine the predictive capacity of anticipated stigma and illness identity on disease-specific symptom burden and quality-of-life outcomes within the hypogonadism cohort.
Primary outcome measures
- Chronic Illness Anticipated Stigma Scale (CIASS) Score [Time frame: Baseline (Single session, day 1)]
- Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief IPQ) Score [Time frame: Baseline (Single session, day 1)]
Secondary outcome measures (2)
- Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) Scale Score [Time frame: Baseline (Single session, day 1)]
- Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Score [Time frame: Baseline (Single session, day 1)]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
Cases:
- Male, aged 18 years or older.
- Biochemically confirmed hypogonadism (total testosterone < 300 ng/dL with at least one clinical symptom).
- Regular follow-up at the endocrinology outpatient clinic.
- Fluent in reading and understanding Turkish.
- Signed informed consent.
Controls:
- Male, aged 18 years or older.
- Diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, or hypothyroidism under regular endocrinology follow-up.
- Total testosterone ≥ 300 ng/dL.
- Age-matched to a participant in the case group (±5 years).
- Fluent in reading and understanding Turkish.
- Signed informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
- Active psychiatric diagnosis (e.g., active psychosis, bipolar disorder).
- Chronic inflammatory or rheumatological diseases affecting body composition (e.g., chronic kidney disease, IBD, rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, ankylosing spondylitis).
- Uncontrolled co-existing endocrine conditions or severe complications (e.g., HbA1c > 8.0%, diabetic neuropathy/nephropathy/retinopathy, non-euthyroid state).
- Cognitive impairment or dementia precluding questionnaire completion.
- Klinefelter syndrome.
- Literacy limitations preventing completion of self-report measures.
- Additional control exclusion: Diagnosis or clinical suspicion of hypogonadism.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Observational model
- Case-control
Study locations
Turkey (Türkiye) · 2 centers
- Bingöl University Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation — Bingoel
- Malatya Training and Research Hospital — Malatya
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07752511 · AF-202604