Population-based Semen Analysis Results and Fertility Among Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Results From Subfertility Health Assisted Reproduction and the Environment (SHARE) Study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate male fertility in Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) by examining semen analysis results and paternity from the SHARE study (Subfertility Health Assisted Reproduction and the Environment), a population-based cohort of semen analysis results from Utah men.

Methods: A population-based cohort of men with CD or UC was identified using the Utah Population Database (contains person-level linked demographic, genealogical, and medical record information for 85% of Utahans) from 1996 to 2014, and validated by clinical chart review. This cohort was then cross-linked (n = 55) to the SHARE population dataset of semen analysis results. Men with CD or UC were compared with population-based, age-matched, paired (1:1) controls (n = 47). Paternity was evaluated though presence and number of linked offspring and inter-birth interval.

Results: Offspring were identified in 71% of UC patients (mean of 1.8 children) and 61% of CD patients (mean of 1.2 children). Compared with matched controls, there were no differences in number of offspring, mean inter-birth interval, or any of the evaluated semen analysis parameters among either men with CD or UC.

Conclusion: Fertility and semen analysis values among men with UC or CD are not significantly impacted compared with population-based, age-matched controls.