ArticlePaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2020
At-home sperm testing for epidemiologic studies: Evaluation of the Trak male fertility testing system in an internet-based preconception cohort.
Article in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06188936 (Home Semen Analysis Tests As a Screening Tool for the Initial Assessment of Patients Referred to the Fertility Clinic), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Home Semen Analysis Tests As a Screening Tool for the Initial Assessment of Patients Referred to the Fertility Clinic: Assessing the Feasibility of a Randomised Trial in the UK
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Male cellular telephone exposure, fecundability, and semen quality: results from two preconception cohort studies.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2021Pooled it
- Lessons learned from longitudinal biomonitoring and birth cohort studies: informing the future of reproductive health research in Canada.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Article
- Cost Considerations of Direct to Consumer Infertility Testing and Sperm Cryopreservation.Current urology reports · 2026Review
- A prospective study of semen quality and fecundability among North American couples planning pregnancy.Andrology · 2026Article
- Comparing remote smartphone-based semen assessments with laboratory evaluations in men unselected for fertility concerns.Fertility and sterility · 2025Article
- The emotions, concerns and reactions of sperm donor candidates to their rejection by a sperm bank.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2025Article
- A preconception cohort study of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and semen quality.Andrology · 2024Article
- A North American study of anthropometric factors and semen quality.Fertility and sterility · 2023Article
- Perceived stress and semen quality.Andrology · 2023Article
- Feasibility of mail-based biospecimen collection in an online preconception cohort study.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2022Article
- Clinical Update on Home Testing for Male Fertility.The world journal of men's health · 2021Review
- A North American prospective study of depression, psychotropic medication use, and semen quality.Fertility and sterility · 2021Article
- Where will telemedicine go from here?Fertility and sterility · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSemen quality assessment in population-based epidemiologic studies presents logistical and financial challenges due to reliance on centralised laboratory semen analysis. The Trak Male Fertility Testing System is an FDA-cleared and validated at-home test for sperm concentration and semen volume, with a research use only sperm motility test. Here we evaluate the Trak System's overall utility among men participating in Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), a web-based study of North American couples planning pregnancy.
methodsUS male participants aged ≥21 years with ≤6 months of pregnancy attempt time at study enrolment were invited to participate in the semen testing substudy after completing their baseline questionnaire. Consenting participants received a Trak Engine (battery-powered centrifuge) and two test kits. Participants shared their test results via smartphone images uploaded to online questionnaires. Data were then linked with covariate data from the baseline questionnaire.
resultsOf the 688 men invited to participate, 373 (54%) provided consent and 271 (73%) completed at least one semen test result. The distributions of semen volume, sperm concentration, motile sperm concentration, total sperm count, and total motile sperm count were similar to 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) semen parameter data of men in the general population. The overall usability score for the Trak System was 1.4 on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Very Easy, 5 = Difficult), and 92% of participants believed they performed the test correctly and received an accurate result. Lastly, men with higher motile sperm count were more likely to report feeling "at ease" or "excited" following testing, while men with low motile sperm count were more likely to report feeling "concerned" or "frustrated." Overall, 91% of men reported they would like to test again.
conclusionsThe Trak System provides a simple and potentially cost-effective means of measuring important semen parameters and may be useful in population-based epidemiologic fertility studies.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.