Inverse relationship between scores on the quality of life questionnaire SF-12 and on the Aging Males' Symptoms scale in Italian men

Figures & data

Table I.  Characteristics of study subjects¹.

	No. (%)
Age (years)
55–60	455 (25.2)
61–65	395 (21.9)
66–70	422 (23.4)
≥71	534 (29.6)
Education
Primary school	611 (34.1)
Intermediate school	501 (27.9)
High school	482 (26.9)
University degree	200 (11.2)
Smoking habits
Current smokers	326 (18.2)
Ex-smokers	927 (51.5)
Never smokers	546 (30.4)
Coffee drinking (cups/day)
0	15.6 (8.7)
1	415 (23.0)
2–3	1028 (56.9)
≥4	207 (11.5)
Alcohol drinking (glasses/day)
0	426 (23.6)
1	365 (20.2)
2–3	738 (40.9)
≥4	277 (15.3)
Body mass index (BMI, kg/m^2)
≥25	596 (33.2)
25–30	949 (52.8)
>30	253 (14.1)
History of:
Hypertension	830 (46.2)
Diabetes	270 (15.0)
Myocardial infarction	169 (9.4)

¹In some cases, the sum does not add up the total due to the missing values.

Table II.  Distribution of study subjects according to the results of the AMS score and age¹.

		Age (years)
AMS score value	Impairment according to the AMS score	≤62 No. (%)	63–70 No. (%)	≥71 No. (%)	Total series No. (%)
Psychological factors
≤5	No	163 (26.7)	173 (26.1)	131 (24.5)	467 (25.9)
6–8	Mild	249 (40.8)	262 (39.6)	194 (36.3)	705 (39.0)
9–11	Moderate	130 (21.3)	139 (21.0)	122 (22.9)	391 (21.7)
≥12	Severe	68 (11.2)	88 (13.3)	87 (16.3)	243 (13.5)
Somatovegetative factors
≤8	No	134 (22.0)	141 (21.3)	94 (17.6)	369 (20.4)
9–12	Mild	289 (47.4)	253 (38.2)	212 (39.7)	754 (41.8)
13–18	Moderate	164 (26.9)	215 (32.5)	172 (32.2)	551 (30.5)
≥19	Severe	23 (3.8)	53 (8.0)	56 (10.5)	132 (7.3)
Sexual factors
≤5	No	105 (17.2)	81 (12.2)	38 (7.1)	224 (12.4)
6–7	Mild	150 (24.6)	113 (17.1)	69 (12.9)	332 (18.4)
8–10	Moderate	212 (34.8)	217 (32.8)	153 (28.7)	582 (32.2)
≥11	Severe	143 (23.4)	251 (37.9)	274 (51.3)	668 (37.0)
Total score
≤26	No	325 (53.3)	283 (42.8)	188 (35.2)	796 (44.1)
27–36	Mild	199 (32.6)	232 (35.1)	195 (36.5)	626 (34.7)
37–49	Moderate	78 (12.8)	125 (18.9)	118 (22.1)	321 (17.8)
≥50	Severe	8 (1.3)	22 (3.3)	33 (6.2)	63 (3.5)

¹In some cases, the sum does not add up the total due to the missing values.

Table III.  Mean SF12 score (DS) according to impairment as evaluated by the AMS score.

	Impairment according to the AMS score
	No	Mild	Moderate	Severe	r-value^1	p-value^2
AMS total score
SF-12 mental index	55.9 ± 5.9	50.9 ± 8.0	42.8 ± 9.7	32.8 ± 9.9	0.60	<0.01
SF-12 physical index	51.2 ± 5.5	46.7 ± 8.3	40.8 ± 10.0	32.3 ± 9.6	0.51	<0.01
AMS sexual score
SF-12 mental index	55.8 ± 6.9	54.3 ± 7.0	51.7 ± 8.8	47.1 ± 10.7	0.38	<0.01
SF-12 physical index	51.2 ± 6.4	50.7 ± 5.9	48.2 ± 7.5	43.0 ± 10.4	0.42	<0.01
AMS psychological score
SF-12 mental index	57.6 ± 4.3	53.0 ± 7.4	46.5 ± 8.9	37.5 ± 10.4	0.65	<0.01
SF-12 physical index	50.9 ± 5.9	47.7 ± 8.2	45.0 ± 9.9	39.7 ± 10.3	0.36	<0.01
AMS somato-vegetative score
SF-12 mental index	56.3 ± 5.4	53.5 ± 7.6	47.4 ± 9.4	37.3 ± 11.0	0.56	<0.01
SF-12 physical index	52.6 ± 4.5	49.2 ± 6.8	43.6 ± 9.2	34.8 ± 10.1	0.57	<0.01

¹SF-12 and AMS score; ²all p-values adjusted for age and centre.

Table IV.  Mean SF-12 score (±DS) according to AMS total score and age.

SF-12 Score	Impairment according to the AMS total score				r-value^1	p-value^2
	No	Mild	Moderate	Severe
Class age 55–60
Mental index	55.5 ± 5.9	50.0 ± 7.7	41.1 ± 9.2	42.4 ± 0.9^3	0.59	<0.01
Physical index	52.0 ± 4.8	47.3 ± 8.0	44.3 ± 9.0	34.7 ± 16.4	0.49	<0.01
Class age 61–65
Mental index	56.5 ± 5.7	50.7 ± 7.9	40.4 ± 9.8	38.3 ± 15.0^4	0.61	<0.01
Physical index	50.6 ± 6.5	49.1 ± 6.9	41.7 ± 8.4	37.4 ± 12.1	0.53	<0.01
Class age 66–70
Mental index	56.8 ± 4.9	51.8 ± 7.9	44.3 ± 9.6	30.7 ± 8.6^5	0.60	<0.01
Physical index	51.4 ± 5.2	47.0 ± 8.3	41.3 ± 9.8	31.1 ± 9.5	0.51	<0.01
Class age 71–85
Mental index	55.2 ± 6.9	50.9 ± 8.8	43.7 ± 9.8	31.4 ± 8.5^6	0.59	<0.01
Physical index	50.4 ± 5.3	45.2 ± 9.0	38.1 ± 10.4	31.3 ± 8.2	0.51	<0.01

¹SF-12 and AMS score; ²all p-values adjusted for age and centre; ³based on 3 subjects; ⁴based on 9 subjects; ⁵based on 16 subjects; ⁶based on 33 subjects.

Table V.  Risk factors for reporting moderate/severe impairment according to the AMS total score.

	No. of subjects with moderate/severe impairment according to the total AMS score	OR (95% CI)
BMI (kg/m^2)
≥25	136 (35.5)	1^1
25–30	185 (48.3)	0.9 (0.7–1.2)
>30	62 (16.2)	1.0 (0.7–1.3)
Education
Primary school	156 (41.3)	1^1
Intermediate school	92 (24.3)	0.8 (0.6–1.0)
High school	86 (22.8)	0.7 (0.5–1.0)
University degree	44 (11.6)	0.9 (0.6–1.4)
Smoking habits
Never smokers	112 (29.3)	1^1
Current smokers	70 (18.3)	1.1 (0.8–1.5)
Ex-smokers	200 (52.4)	1.0 (0.8–1.3)
Alcohol drinking (Yes)^2	287 (74.7)	0.9 (0.7–1.2)
Coffee drinking (Yes)^2	352 (91.7)	1.1 (0.7–1.6)
History of:
Diabetes (Yes)^2	79 (20.7)	1.6 (1.2–2.1)
Hypertension (Yes)^2	207 (54.2)	1.4 (1.1–1.8)
Myocardial infarction (Yes)^2	53 (13.9)	1.7 (1.2–2.4)

OR, odds ratio: subjects with moderate/severe impairment according to the total AMS score versus subjects with no/mild impairment; CI, confidence interval: multivariate estimates including terms for age plus the above listed variables.

¹Reference category; ²Reference category: no history.