Male factor infertility associated with comorbidities

The conclusion of an article featured in the December issue of European Urology, the official journal of the European Association of Urology, is that male factor infertility is associated with a number of medical comorbidities, as objectively scored with the hospital-based Charlson Comorbidity Index.

The article entitled “Are Infertile Men Less Healthy than Fertile Men?” suggests that because a greater prevalence of cancers among men with abnormalities in fertility has been reported, the hypothesis was that men with male factor infertility (MFI) may also suffer from a higher rate of certain disorders other than cancers when compared with the general, age-comparable fertile population. The clinical observation of a significant rate of diseases among men with MFI prompted us to examine whether those patients are less healthy than age-comparable fertile men, as objectively scored with a comorbidity index, regardless of the reasons for infertility.

The study provides novel evidence that MFI accounts for a higher CCI, which may be considered a reliable proxy of a lower general health status, regardless of the etiology of pure MFI.