Time to pregnancy and semen parameters: a cross-sectional study among fertile couples from four European cities

Remy Slama; Florence Eustache; B. Ducot; Tina Kold Jensen; Niels Jørgensen; Antero Horte; S. Irvine; J. Suominen; A.G. Andersen; J. Auger; Matti Vierula; J. Toppari; Anders Nyboe Andersen; Niels Keiding; Niels Erik Skakkebæk; Alfred Spira; P. Jouannet

doi:10.1093/humrep/17.2.503

Time to pregnancy and semen parameters: a cross-sectional study among fertile couples from four European cities

Remy Slama, Florence Eustache, B. Ducot, Tina Kold Jensen, Niels Jørgensen, Antero Horte, S. Irvine, J. Suominen, A.G. Andersen, J. Auger, Matti Vierula, J. Toppari, Anders Nyboe Andersen, Niels Keiding, Niels Erik Skakkebæk, Alfred Spira, P. Jouannet

Section of Biostatistics

201 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: In fertile populations, little is known about the association between semen parameters and time to pregnancy (TTP). Methods: Pregnant women from Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Paris and Turku who conceived without medical intervention were asked for their TTP (942 couples), and their partners provided a semen sample. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm and the multiple anomalies index (MAI, ratio of the total number of anomalies to the number of abnormal sperm) were centrally estimated. We estimated rate ratios for the occurrence of a pregnancy by a discrete survival model, adjusted for sexual activity and female factors affecting fecundity. Results: Increasing sperm concentration influenced TTP up to 55 × 106/ml. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm influenced TTP up to 39% according to David's criteria, and this association held among the subjects with a sperm concentration >55 × 106/ml. For strict criteria, the threshold value was 19% normal sperm. An increase of 0.5 in MAI was associated with an adjusted rate ratio for the occurrence of a pregnancy of 0.68 (95% confidence interval: 0.54-0.85). Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of sperm morphology parameters and indicate that the effect of proportion of normal sperm on TTP may be independent of sperm concentration.

Original language	English
Journal	Human Reproduction
Volume	17
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	503-515
Number of pages	13
ISSN	0268-1161
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/17.2.503
Publication status	Published - 2002

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Slama, R., Eustache, F., Ducot, B., Jensen, T. K., Jørgensen, N., Horte, A., Irvine, S., Suominen, J., Andersen, A. G., Auger, J., Vierula, M., Toppari, J., Andersen, A. N., Keiding, N., Skakkebæk, N. E., Spira, A., & Jouannet, P. (2002). Time to pregnancy and semen parameters: a cross-sectional study among fertile couples from four European cities. Human Reproduction, 17(2), 503-515. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/17.2.503

Slama, R, Eustache, F, Ducot, B, Jensen, TK, Jørgensen, N, Horte, A, Irvine, S, Suominen, J, Andersen, AG, Auger, J, Vierula, M, Toppari, J, Andersen, AN, Keiding, N, Skakkebæk, NE, Spira, A & Jouannet, P 2002, 'Time to pregnancy and semen parameters: a cross-sectional study among fertile couples from four European cities', Human Reproduction, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 503-515. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/17.2.503

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title = "Time to pregnancy and semen parameters: a cross-sectional study among fertile couples from four European cities",

abstract = "Background: In fertile populations, little is known about the association between semen parameters and time to pregnancy (TTP). Methods: Pregnant women from Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Paris and Turku who conceived without medical intervention were asked for their TTP (942 couples), and their partners provided a semen sample. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm and the multiple anomalies index (MAI, ratio of the total number of anomalies to the number of abnormal sperm) were centrally estimated. We estimated rate ratios for the occurrence of a pregnancy by a discrete survival model, adjusted for sexual activity and female factors affecting fecundity. Results: Increasing sperm concentration influenced TTP up to 55 × 106/ml. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm influenced TTP up to 39% according to David's criteria, and this association held among the subjects with a sperm concentration >55 × 106/ml. For strict criteria, the threshold value was 19% normal sperm. An increase of 0.5 in MAI was associated with an adjusted rate ratio for the occurrence of a pregnancy of 0.68 (95% confidence interval: 0.54-0.85). Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of sperm morphology parameters and indicate that the effect of proportion of normal sperm on TTP may be independent of sperm concentration.",

author = "Remy Slama and Florence Eustache and B. Ducot and Jensen, {Tina Kold} and Niels J{\o}rgensen and Antero Horte and S. Irvine and J. Suominen and A.G. Andersen and J. Auger and Matti Vierula and J. Toppari and Andersen, {Anders Nyboe} and Niels Keiding and Skakkeb{\ae}k, {Niels Erik} and Alfred Spira and P. Jouannet",

year = "2002",

doi = "10.1093/humrep/17.2.503",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

pages = "503--515",

journal = "Human Reproduction",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Time to pregnancy and semen parameters

T2 - a cross-sectional study among fertile couples from four European cities

AU - Slama, Remy

AU - Eustache, Florence

AU - Ducot, B.

AU - Jensen, Tina Kold

AU - Jørgensen, Niels

AU - Horte, Antero

AU - Irvine, S.

AU - Suominen, J.

AU - Andersen, A.G.

AU - Auger, J.

AU - Vierula, Matti

AU - Toppari, J.

AU - Andersen, Anders Nyboe

AU - Keiding, Niels

AU - Skakkebæk, Niels Erik

AU - Spira, Alfred

AU - Jouannet, P.

PY - 2002

Y1 - 2002

N2 - Background: In fertile populations, little is known about the association between semen parameters and time to pregnancy (TTP). Methods: Pregnant women from Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Paris and Turku who conceived without medical intervention were asked for their TTP (942 couples), and their partners provided a semen sample. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm and the multiple anomalies index (MAI, ratio of the total number of anomalies to the number of abnormal sperm) were centrally estimated. We estimated rate ratios for the occurrence of a pregnancy by a discrete survival model, adjusted for sexual activity and female factors affecting fecundity. Results: Increasing sperm concentration influenced TTP up to 55 × 106/ml. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm influenced TTP up to 39% according to David's criteria, and this association held among the subjects with a sperm concentration >55 × 106/ml. For strict criteria, the threshold value was 19% normal sperm. An increase of 0.5 in MAI was associated with an adjusted rate ratio for the occurrence of a pregnancy of 0.68 (95% confidence interval: 0.54-0.85). Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of sperm morphology parameters and indicate that the effect of proportion of normal sperm on TTP may be independent of sperm concentration.

AB - Background: In fertile populations, little is known about the association between semen parameters and time to pregnancy (TTP). Methods: Pregnant women from Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Paris and Turku who conceived without medical intervention were asked for their TTP (942 couples), and their partners provided a semen sample. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm and the multiple anomalies index (MAI, ratio of the total number of anomalies to the number of abnormal sperm) were centrally estimated. We estimated rate ratios for the occurrence of a pregnancy by a discrete survival model, adjusted for sexual activity and female factors affecting fecundity. Results: Increasing sperm concentration influenced TTP up to 55 × 106/ml. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm influenced TTP up to 39% according to David's criteria, and this association held among the subjects with a sperm concentration >55 × 106/ml. For strict criteria, the threshold value was 19% normal sperm. An increase of 0.5 in MAI was associated with an adjusted rate ratio for the occurrence of a pregnancy of 0.68 (95% confidence interval: 0.54-0.85). Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of sperm morphology parameters and indicate that the effect of proportion of normal sperm on TTP may be independent of sperm concentration.

U2 - 10.1093/humrep/17.2.503

DO - 10.1093/humrep/17.2.503

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0268-1161

VL - 17

SP - 503

EP - 515

JO - Human Reproduction

JF - Human Reproduction

IS - 2

ER -

Time to pregnancy and semen parameters: a cross-sectional study among fertile couples from four European cities

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