General Health Outcomes in Subfertile Men - version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
General Health Outcomes in Subfertile Men: a UK register-based cohort study
IRAS ID
279603
Contact name
Alastair G Sutcliffe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
215551/Z/19/Z, Wellcome Trust reference; RA029079/1, UCL Risk Assessment reference; Z6364106/2019/08/71, UCL Data Protection Registration Number:
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Infertility, defined as the inability of a sexually active couple to achieve pregnancy within one year, has substantial effects on human health at both population and individual levels.
1 in 7 couples are known to be affected by infertility in the UK, with male factor contributing in about 40% of cases. Furthermore, the prevalence of male infertility may be underestimated as many at-risk men may not seek medical evaluation.
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has substantially increased the chances for infertile men to become fathers, but the implications of the underlying infertility for the affected individuals remain uncertain.
A growing body of research in the US and the Scandinavian countries suggests that men's reproductive health may reflect their somatic health and male infertility may be a risk factor for the subsequent development of both malignant and non-malignant disease, as well as early death. Fertility evaluation thus could be an opportunity to improve men's overall health beyond their immediate reproductive goals and importantly may be an early and identifiable risk factor for the development of diseases later in life.
Little is known how generalisable these findings are to other populations and whether country specific factors (e.g., access to care and education) may lead to differences in the rates of morbidity and mortality. Despite the prevalence of male infertility, research in the UK on the long-term health of the affected men remains limited. National administrative health data offers an invaluable resource for investigating the long-term health of men affected by fertility problems. Our proposed study will utilize such data to provide critical insight into the sequelae of male subfertility (any form of reduced fertility with prolonged time to conception) in the UK, to help develop targeted interventions, advance current diagnosis and treatment, and improve the understanding on its impact on our society and the economy.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0536
Date of REC Opinion
9 Aug 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion