Title: Effects of work and life stress on semen quality.

Authors: Janevic, Teresa; Kahn, Linda G; Landsbergis, Paul; Cirillo, Piera M; Cohn, Barbara A; Liu, Xinhua; Factor-Litvak, Pam

Published In Fertil Steril, (2014 Aug)

Abstract: To evaluate associations between work-related stress, stressful life events, and perceived stress and semen quality.Cross-sectional analysis.Northern California.193 men from the Child Health and Development Studies evaluated between 2005-2008.None.Measures of stress including job strain, perceived stress, and stressful life events; outcome measures of sperm concentration, percentage of motile sperm, and percentage of morphologically normal sperm.We found an inverse association between perceived stress score and sperm concentration (estimated coefficient b=-0.09×10(3)/mL; 95% confidence interval [CI]=-0.18, -0.01), motility (b=-0.39; 95% CI=-0.79, 0.01), and morphology (b=-0.14; 95% CI, -0.25, -0.04) in covariate-adjusted linear regression analyses. Men who experienced two or more stressful life events in the past year compared with no stressful events had a lower percentage of motile sperm (b=-8.22; 95% CI, -14.31, -2.13) and a lower percentage of morphologically normal sperm (b=-1.66; 95% CI, -3.35, 0.03) but a similar sperm concentration. Job strain was not associated with semen parameters.In this first study to examine all three domains of stress, perceived stress and stressful life events but not work-related stress were associated with semen quality.

PubMed ID: 24856463

MeSH Terms: Adult; California; Cell Shape; Chi-Square Distribution; Cross-Sectional Studies; Health Status; Health Status Indicators; Humans; Life Change Events*; Linear Models; Male; Middle Aged; Risk Factors; Sperm Count; Sperm Motility; Spermatozoa/pathology*; Stress, Psychological/diagnosis; Stress, Psychological/etiology*; Stress, Psychological/psychology; Work/psychology*