Semen Quality as a Predictor of Subsequent Morbidity: A Danish Cohort Study of 4,712 Men With Long-Term Follow-up

Abstract

Semen quality has been suggested to be a biological marker of long-term morbidity and mortality; however, few studies have been conducted on this subject. We identified 5,370 men seen for infertility at Frederiksberg Hospital, Denmark, during 1977-2010, and 4,712 of these men were followed in the Danish National Patient Registry until first hospitalization, death, or the end of the study. We classified patients according to hospitalizations and the presence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, testicular cancer, or prostate cancer. We found a clear association between sperm concentration below 15 million/mL and all-cause hospitalizations (hazard ratio = 1.5, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 1.6) and cardiovascular disease (hazard ratio = 1.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.2, 1.6), compared with men with a concentration above 40 million/mL. The probabilities for hospitalizations were also higher with a low total sperm count and low motility. Men with a sperm concentration of 195-200 million/mL were, on average, hospitalized for the first time 7 years later than were men with a sperm concentration of 0-5 million/mL. Semen quality was associated with long-term morbidity, and a significantly higher risk of hospitalization was found, in particular for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus. Our study supports the suggestion that semen quality is a strong biomarker of general health.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; diabetes; hospitalization; prostate cancer; sperm concentration; testicular cancer; total sperm count.