Background: An association between either subfertility or infertility and an elevated risk of certain male cancers has been previously reported. Nothing is known about abnormalities in infertility and general health conditions. Objective: To assess whether men with male factor infertility (MFI) are overall less healthy than fertile men, regardless of the reasons for infertility. Design, setting, and participants: From September 2006 to September 2007, 344 consecutive European Caucasian men with MFI were enrolled in this prospective case-controlled study. Patients were compared with a control group of 293 consecutive age-comparable fertile men. Infertile men were consecutively attending the outpatient male reproductive clinic at a tertiary academic center. Fertile controls were consecutively recruited by use of advertisements posted within our hospital. Measurements: Comorbidities of patients and fertile men were objectively scored with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) according to the International Classification of Diseases modified ninth version (ICD-9-CM) codes. Multivariate linear regression models tested the association between predictors and CCI score, as a proxy of general health status. Results: According to the CCI scores, infertile men had a significantly higher rate of comorbidities compared with the fertile controls (CCI: 0.33 [0.8] vs 0.14 [0.5]; p < 0.001; 95% CI: 0.08-0.29). Linear regression analyses showed that although educational status did not have an impact on CCI (beta: 0.035; p = 0.365), while CCI linearly increased with age (beta: 0.196; p < 0.001) and body mass index (BMI; beta: 0.161; p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, BMI, and educational status, a significantly lower CCI was calculated for fertile men and compared with MFI patients (beta: -0.199; p < 0.001). Conclusions: These results show that MFI accounts for a higher CCI, which may be considered a reliable proxy of a lower general health status. (C) 2009 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

Are Infertile Men Less Healthy than Fertile Men? Results of a Prospective Case-Control Survey

SALONIA , ANDREA;BRIGANTI , ALBERTO;MONTORSI , FRANCESCO
2009-01-01

Abstract

Background: An association between either subfertility or infertility and an elevated risk of certain male cancers has been previously reported. Nothing is known about abnormalities in infertility and general health conditions. Objective: To assess whether men with male factor infertility (MFI) are overall less healthy than fertile men, regardless of the reasons for infertility. Design, setting, and participants: From September 2006 to September 2007, 344 consecutive European Caucasian men with MFI were enrolled in this prospective case-controlled study. Patients were compared with a control group of 293 consecutive age-comparable fertile men. Infertile men were consecutively attending the outpatient male reproductive clinic at a tertiary academic center. Fertile controls were consecutively recruited by use of advertisements posted within our hospital. Measurements: Comorbidities of patients and fertile men were objectively scored with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) according to the International Classification of Diseases modified ninth version (ICD-9-CM) codes. Multivariate linear regression models tested the association between predictors and CCI score, as a proxy of general health status. Results: According to the CCI scores, infertile men had a significantly higher rate of comorbidities compared with the fertile controls (CCI: 0.33 [0.8] vs 0.14 [0.5]; p < 0.001; 95% CI: 0.08-0.29). Linear regression analyses showed that although educational status did not have an impact on CCI (beta: 0.035; p = 0.365), while CCI linearly increased with age (beta: 0.196; p < 0.001) and body mass index (BMI; beta: 0.161; p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, BMI, and educational status, a significantly lower CCI was calculated for fertile men and compared with MFI patients (beta: -0.199; p < 0.001). Conclusions: These results show that MFI accounts for a higher CCI, which may be considered a reliable proxy of a lower general health status. (C) 2009 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11768/4064
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