Abstract
BackgroundPoor sleep has been linked to a number of adverse health outcomes. Recent studies suggest that late bedtimes, short or long sleep durations, and poor sleep quality may impair semen quality. No study has previously explored all three factors in relation to semen quality.ResultsOne hundred and four men and their partners treated at three fertility clinics in Denmark between 2010 and 2012 completed an online-version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The results of the semen analyses conducted at the fertility clinics were self-reported and categorised as normal or reduced.Early bedtime (< 10:30 PM) was more often associated with normal semen quality compared with both regular (10:30 PM-11:29 PM) and late (≥11:30 PM) bedtime (OR: 2.75, 95%CI: 1.1–7.1, p = 0.04 and OR: 3.97, 95%CI: 1.2–13.5, p = 0.03). Conventional sleep duration (7.5–7.99 h) was more often associated with normal semen quality than both short (7.0–7.49 h) and very short (< 7.0 h) sleep duration (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.2–12.9, p = 0.03 and OR: 6.18, 95%CI: 1.6–24.2, p = 0.01). Although poor sleep quality was associated with reduced semen quality in the descriptive statistics (p = 0.04), no differences were found between optimal (PSQI ≤6) and either borderline (PSQI 7–8) or poor (PSQI ≥9) sleep quality (OR: 1.19, 95%CI: 0.4–3.4, p = 0.75 and OR: 2.43, 95%CI: 0.8–7.1, p = 0.11) in multivariate regression models.ConclusionEarly bedtimes (< 10:30 PM) and conventional sleep duration (7.5–7.99 h) were associated with self-reported normal semen quality. The role of subjective sleep quality remains uncertain.
Highlights
Poor sleep has been linked to a number of adverse health outcomes
One hundred and four men and their partners treated at three fertility clinics in Denmark between 2010 and 2012 completed an online-version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
Poor sleep quality was associated with reduced semen quality in the descriptive statistics (p = 0.04), no differences were found between optimal (PSQI ≤6) and either borderline (PSQI 7–8) or poor (PSQI ≥9) sleep quality (OR: 1.19, 95%CI: 0.4–3.4, p = 0.75 and OR: 2.43, 95%CI: 0.8–7.1, p = 0.11) in multivariate regression models
Summary
There were no statistically significant differences between men with reduced and normal semen quality with respect to bedtime, age, educational level, income, smoking status or alcohol consumption. In the model adjusted for age, smoking status, and alcohol consumption, there was a difference between early vs regular (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.1–7.1, p = 0.04) and late bedtime (OR: 3.97, 95% CI: 1.2–13.5, p = 0.03) with early bedtime more often associated with normal semen quality (see Fig. 2-a). Sleep duration and semen quality Both the unadjusted and adjusted binary regression models revealed statistically significant associations between shorter sleep durations and reduced semen quality (see Table 2). PSQI Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index global score. *Significant at p < 0.05
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