ArticleFertility and sterility2021
A North American prospective study of depression, psychotropic medication use, and semen quality.
Article in Fertility and sterility, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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
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.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Antidepressants on Male Fertility and Seminal Parameters: A Systematic Review.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of SSRIs on Semen quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- A prospective study of semen quality and fecundability among North American couples planning pregnancy.Andrology · 2026Article
- Paroxetine Triggers Inflammatory State on Zebrafish Early Embryonic Development.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Association between mental health and male fertility: depression, rather than anxiety, is linked to decreased semen quality.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Preconception depression reduces fertility: a couple-based prospective preconception cohort.Human reproduction open · 2024Article
- Confounding by Indication in Studies of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors.Psychiatry investigation · 2022Article
- A Prospective Study of Male Depression, Psychotropic Medication Use, and Fecundability.American journal of men's healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the associations of a history of diagnosed depression, current depressive symptoms, and recent use of psychotropic medications with semen quality and to consider mediation of the association between depression and semen quality by medication use.
designProspective cohort study.
settingUnited States. PATIENT(S): The patients were 329 men aged ≥21 years (566 semen samples) who participated in a semen-testing substudy of Pregnancy Study Online. Pregnancy Study Online is an ongoing, web-based preconception cohort study of couples attempting to conceive. At baseline, participants reported information about depression diagnosis, depressive symptoms using the Major Depression Inventory, medication use in the last 4 weeks, and selected covariates. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The men used an at-home semen-testing kit (Trak; Sandstone Diagnostics, Inc., Pleasanton, California) to measure semen volume, sperm concentration, and motile sperm concentration. We calculated percent motility, total sperm count in the ejaculate, and total motile sperm count. RESULT(S): Forty-nine men (15%) reported a history of depression diagnosis, and 41 (12%) reported recent use of psychotropic medications. A history of depression diagnosis was associated with a 4.3-fold increase in the risk of low semen volume (<1.5 mL) (95% CI 1.16, 16). A 5-unit increase in Major Depression Inventory score was associated with a 1.38-fold increase in the risk of low semen volume (95% CI 0.92, 2.1). The results for other semen parameters were inconsistent. Recent use of psychotropic medications was associated with worse semen quality, and this association was confounded by a history of depression diagnosis. The observed association between depression and semen volume showed little mediation by psychotropic medication use.
conclusionA history of diagnosed depression and severe depressive symptoms at enrollment were associated with low semen volume.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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