Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29043697›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of fertility & sterility2018

Revisiting The Relationship between The Ejaculatory Abstinence Period and Semen Characteristics.

Bashir M Ayad, Gerhard Van der Horst, Stefan S Du Plessis

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of fertility & sterility, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Sperm DNA Fragmentation and Fertility.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Effects of a short abstinence period on sperm quality in oligozoospermic men.Clinical and experimental reproductive medicine · 2023
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Frequency of Semen Collection Affects Ram Sperm Cryoresistance.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022
    Article
  16. Observational
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Bashir M AyadDivision of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa.
Gerhard Van der HorstDivision of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa.
Stefan S Du PlessisDivision of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. Electronic address: ssdp@sun.ac.za.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Variation in the ejaculatory abstinence period suggested by different guidance bodies have resulted in a growing concern among researchers and clinicians over what the precise period of ejaculatory abstinence ought to be for an optimal semen sample. Several studies have thus been undertaken to examine the association between the length of sexual abstinence and semen characteristics. Not all studies, however, have arrived at the same conclusions. This study aims to review all existing literature published during the past few decades pertaining to the influence of ejaculatory abstinence on semen quality. For the purpose of this systematic review, all data related to sexual abstinence duration and seminal parameters were re-analysed to homogenize the current data. Thorough PubMed, MEDLINE and Google Scholar, a literature search was conducted using the keywords "sexual abstinence", "ejaculatory abstinence", "semen", "spermatozoa", "semen analysis", "sperm parameters", "motility", "reactive oxygen species (ROS)" and "DNA fragmentation". After carefully reviewing all the literature, 30 relevant papers, both written in English and published between January 1979 and December 2016, were included in this review. The weight of the evidence suggests that the decline in semen volume and sperm concentration with shorter abstinence periods is accompanied by a substantial improvement in sperm motility characteristics, especially progressive motility and velocity. Nevertheless, available data are insufficient to support definitive conclusions regarding the influence of the ejaculatory abstinence period on advanced semen parameters (ROS, DNA fragmentation and seminal plasma antioxidant capacity) and pregnancy rates. In conclusion, taking all data into account, shortening of the abstinence period may be beneficial to sperm quality. Furthermore, we recommend that the current guidelines regarding the prescribed abstinence period should be revisited.

Indexed as

DNA FragmentationSemen AnalysisSexual AbstinenceSpermatozoaSperm Motility

Identifiers

PMID29043697
PMCPMC5641453

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.