ArticleAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2021
Impaired fertility in men diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis: results of a large multicentre study (iFAME-Fertility).
Article in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fertility and Birth Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Narrative Review.Rheumatology and therapy · 2026Review
- A clinical care pathway for managing pregnancy in patients with inflammatory arthritis.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Review
- From arthritis to erectile dysfunction: potential pathophysiological mechanisms and multidisciplinary integrated management.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Reproductive Health in Rheumatology: Making 'Early and Regular' Work in Practice.EULAR rheumatology open · 2025Review
- Article
- Fertility, pregnancy outcomes, and disease activity during pregnancy in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a descriptive study.Clinical rheumatology · 2025Article
- Discussing male sexual and reproductive health in the rheumatology outpatient clinic: a Q-methodology study.BMC rheumatology · 2024Article
- Patterns of reproductive health in inflammatory rheumatic diseases and other immune-mediated diseases: a nationwide registry study.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Male Fertility in Spondyloarthritis: from Clinical Issues to Cytokines Milieu. A Narrative Review.Current rheumatology reports · 2024Review
- Exploring complex links: inflammatory rheumatic diseases and men's health.Rheumatology international · 2024Review
- Male patients with inflammatory joint diseases are less likely than controls to be childless: results from a Norwegian population-based cohort study of 10 865 patients.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2024Article
- Arthritis increases the risk of erectile dysfunction: Results from the NHANES 2001-2004.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Rituximab alleviates increased disomic sperm in DBA/1J mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis via restoration of redox imbalance.Journal of biochemical and molecular toxicology · 2023Article
- Is methotrexate safe for men with an immune-mediated inflammatory disease and an active desire to become a father? Results of a prospective cohort study (iFAME-MTX).Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2023Article
- A Case Report of Intratesticular Hematoma in a Patient with Reiter's Syndrome.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Self-Reported Asthma Is Associated with Reduced Sperm Count-A Cross-Sectional Study of More than 6000 Young Men from the General Population.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Paternal inflammatory arthritis is associated with a higher risk of miscarriage: results of a large multicentre study (iFAME-Fertility).Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- MANTA and MANTA-RAy: Rationale and Design of Trials Evaluating Effects of Filgotinib on Semen Parameters in Patients with Inflammatory Diseases.Advances in therapy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe impact of inflammatory arthritis (IA) on male fertility remains unexplored. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of IA on several male fertility outcomes; fertility rate (number of biological children per man), family planning, childlessness and fertility problems.
methodsWe performed a multicentre cross-sectional study (iFAME-Fertility). Men with IA 40 years or older who indicated that their family size was complete were invited to participate. Participants completed a questionnaire that included demographic, medical and fertility-related questions. To analyse the impact of IA on fertility rate, patients were divided into groups according to the age at the time of their diagnosis: ≤30 years (before the peak of reproductive age), between 31 and 40 years (during the peak) and ≥41 years (after the peak).
resultsIn total 628 participants diagnosed with IA were included. Men diagnosed ≤30 years had a lower mean number of children (1.32 (SD 1.14)) than men diagnosed between 31 and 40 years (1.60 (SD 1.35)) and men diagnosed ≥41 years (1.88 (SD 1.14)).This was statistically significant (p=0.0004).The percentages of men diagnosed ≤30 and 31-40 years who were involuntary childless (12.03% vs 10.34% vs 3.98%, p=0.001) and who reported having received medical evaluations for fertility problems (20.61%, 20.69% and 11.36%, p=0.027) were statistically significant higher than men diagnosed ≥41 years.
conclusionsThis is the first study that shows that IA can impair male fertility. Men diagnosed with IA before and during the peak of reproductive age had a lower fertility rate, higher childlessness rate and more fertility problems. Increased awareness and more research into the causes behind this association are urgently needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.