Semen quality in fertile men in relation to psychosocial stress

Objective To examine the association between stressful life events and semen parameters. Design Cross-sectional analysis in a pregnancy cohort study. Setting Prenatal 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 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.