Are Caucasian-European men delaying fatherhood? Results of a 7 year observational study of infertile couples with male factor infertility

This study was aimed at assessing presence and predictors of a trend towards more advanced paternal age at presentation in a cohort of 1283 Caucasian-European infertile couples with male factor infertility (MFI) over a short time frame. Multivariate linear regression analysis tested the association between predictors [namely, partners age, length of infertility at first presentation, patients comorbidities as scored with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and educational status] and patients age at presentation. Using anova, patients age at presentation (F ratio: 2.43; p = 0.024) and patients educational status (chi(2) trend: 142.38; p < 0.001) significantly increased over time. In contrast, length of infertility at first presentation, CCI and partners age did not significantly change over time (all p = 0.05). Linear regression analyses showed that CCI, educational status and year of presentation were not correlated with patients age at presentation (all p = 0.05), whereas partners age (beta = 0.170; p < 0.001) and length of infertility beta = 0.123; p = 0.004) were independent predictors of delayed fatherhood. These results showed a significant shift towards advanced paternal age, but a non-significant increase of maternal age at first presentation among CaucasianEuropean infertile couples with MFI over a short time frame.