Human Reproduction, Vol. 16, No. 1, 177-187,
January 2001
© 2001 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Feasibility of surveillance of changes in human fertility and semen quality*
1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Royal Women's Hospital, Carlton 3053, Australia, 2 Department of Physiology and Anatomy, School of Human Biosciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora 3083, Australia, 3 Centre for the Study of Mothers' and Children's Health, La Trobe University, Carlton 3053, Australia and 4 UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
There is concern that male fertility is declining, but this is difficult to study because few men volunteer for studies of semen quality, and recruitment bias may over-represent the subfertile. The Human Reproduction Programme of the World Health Organization developed a protocol for multicentre studies of fertility involving a questionnaire for pregnant women to obtain time to pregnancy (TTP): the number of menstrual cycles taken to conceive. Male characteristics and semen quality will be determined in a subset of the partners. Our aim was to validate the TTP questionnaire, and to examine potential recruitment bias and feasibility of conducting large-scale surveillance of fertility. The questionnaire was administered to 120 pregnant women (16–32 weeks). Validation included internal reliability by consistency of responses, test–re-test reliability by repeat administration (20 women) and accuracy by comparison of gestational age from first antenatal ultrasound and menstrual dates. Internal reliability was high. Agreement between categorical responses on re-testing was very good (k > 0.8). In both the re-test and gestational age analysis, differences in TTP of 1 cycle were found (standard deviation <0.25 cycles). In this small pilot study there was no evidence of recruitment bias. Response rates indicate the feasibility of surveillance of fertility in large maternity centres.
Key words: fecundability/human fertility/questionnaire validation/recruitment bias/time to pregnancy
* The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the World Health Organization or the co-sponsors of the Human Reproduction Programme.
5 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: University of Melbourne Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Royal Women's Hospital, Carlton 3053 Victoria, Australia. E-mail: t.stewart1{at}pgrad.unimelb.edu.au
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T.M. Stewart, D.Y. Liu, C. Garrett, E.H. Brown, and H.W.G. Baker Recruitment bias in studies of semen and other factors affecting pregnancy rates in fertile men Hum. Reprod., October 1, 2009; 24(10): 2401 - 2408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T.M. Stewart, D.Y. Liu, C. Garrett, N. Jorgensen, E.H. Brown, and H.W.G. Baker Associations between andrological measures, hormones and semen quality in fertile Australian men: inverse relationship between obesity and sperm output Hum. Reprod., July 1, 2009; 24(7): 1561 - 1568. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
F. Eustache, J. Auger, D. Cabrol, and P. Jouannet Are volunteers delivering semen samples in fertility studies a biased population? Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2004; 19(12): 2831 - 2837. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|