ArticleAndrology2019
Semen quality of young men in Switzerland: a nationwide cross-sectional population-based study.
Article in Andrology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sperm quality parameters of Swiss army recruits pre- and peri-COVID-19: a cross-sectional, comparative analysis.New microbes and new infections · 2026Article
- Cannabis consumption is associated with altered steroid metabolism in young men.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Prenatal exposure to parental smoking and infertility in sons and daughters: a cohort study.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Ozone exposure and semen quality in low-income men with unhealthy behaviours in Foshan, China: a case-control study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Exploring geographical differences in semen quality of young men using spatial dependence analysis.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Constructing a nomogram for ICSI-ET assisted reproductive outcomes in infertile men based on lifestyle and sperm quality: a multicenter retrospective survey.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Frequency, morbidity and equity - the case for increased research on male fertility.Nature reviews. Urology · 2024Review
- Low-polarity untargeted metabolomic profiling as a tool to gain insight into seminal fluid.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2023Article
- Spatiotemporal trends in human semen quality.Nature reviews. Urology · 2022Review
- Semen Quality Following Long-term Occupational Exposure to Formaldehyde in China.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- Association of Exposure to Particulate Matter Air Pollution With Semen Quality Among Men in China.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- REPRODUCTIVE TOXICOLOGY: Endocrine disruption and reproductive disorders: impacts on sexually dimorphic neuroendocrine pathways.Reproduction (Cambridge, England) · 2021Review
- Regional and ethnic differences in semen quality and reproductive hormones in Russia: A Siberian population-based cohort study of young men.Andrology · 2021Article
- Infertility due to defective sperm flagella caused by an intronic deletion in DNAH17 that perturbs splicing.Genetics · 2021Article
- Social Media Sensationalism in the Male Infertility Space: A Mixed Methodology Analysis.The world journal of men's health · 2020Article
- Regional difference in semen quality of young men: a review on the implication of environmental and lifestyle factors during fetal life and adulthood.Basic and clinical andrology · 2020Review
- Will male semen quality improve with environmental quality?Asian journal of andrologyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 8 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSperm counts have been steadily decreasing over the past five decades with regional differences in the Western world. The reasons behind these trends are complex, but numerous insights indicate that environmental and lifestyle factors are important players.
objectiveTo evaluate semen quality and male reproductive health in Switzerland. MATERIALS AND
methodsA nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted on 2523 young men coming from all regions of Switzerland, recruited during military conscription. Semen volume, sperm concentration, motility, and morphology were analyzed. Anatomy of the genital area and testicular volume was recorded. Testicular cancer incidence rates in the general population were retrieved from Swiss regional registries.
resultsMedian sperm concentration adjusted for period of sexual abstinence was 48 million/mL. Comparing with the 5th percentile of the WHO reference values for fertile men, 17% of men had sperm concentration below 15 million/mL, 25% had less than 40% motile spermatozoa, and 43% had less than 4% normal forms. Disparities in semen quality among geographic regions, urbanization rates, and linguistic areas were limited. A larger proportion of men with poor semen quality had been exposed in utero to maternal smoking. Furthermore, testicular cancer incidence rates in the Swiss general population increased significantly between 1980 and 2014. DISCUSSION: For the first time, a systematic sampling among young men has confirmed that semen quality is affected on a national level. The median sperm concentration measured is among the lowest observed in Europe. No specific geographical differences could be identified. Further studies are needed to determine to what extent the fertility of Swiss men is compromised and to evaluate the impact of environmental and lifestyle factors.
conclusionA significant proportion of Swiss young men display suboptimal semen quality with only 38% having sperm concentration, motility, and morphology values that met WHO semen reference criteria.
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Registered trials
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