Semen quality in fertile men in relation to psychosocial stress

ObjectiveTo examine the association between stressful life events and semen parameters.DesignCross-sectional analysis in a pregnancy cohort study.SettingPrenatal clinics in five U.S. cities.Patient(s)Fertile men (n = 744) in the Study for Future Families, a cohort study of pregnant women and their partners.Intervention(s)None.Main Outcome Measure(s)Sperm concentration, percent motile, and percent normal morphology and classification above/below World Health Organization (WHO) cutoffs for semen quality.Result(s)After adjusting for confounders, men reporting 2+ recent stressful life events had an increased risk of being classified below WHO thresholds for “normal” defined by concentration, motility, and morphology criteria compared with men reporting <2 stressful life events (odds ratio [OR] = 2.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18, 3.61; OR = 1.54; 95% CI, 1.04, 2.29; OR = 1.93; 95% CI, 1.02, 3.66 for concentration, motility and morphology, respectively). Men experiencing 2+ stressful life events had lower sperm concentration (log scale, β = −0.25; 95% CI, −0.38, −0.11) and lower percent motile sperm (β = −1.95; 95% CI, −3.98, 0.07), but percent normal morphology was less affected.Conclusion(s)These results suggest that stressful life events may be associated with decreased semen quality in fertile men. The experience of psychosocial stress may be a modifiable factor in the development of idiopathic infertility.