ArticleBiology2022
Decline of Sperm Quality over the Last Two Decades in the South of Europe: A Retrospective Study in Infertile Patients.
Article in Biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 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.
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, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Seminal plasma cytokines in fertile versus infertile men: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Human reproduction update · 2026Pooled it
- The sperm survival switch: circRNA-mediated regulatory loops control apoptotic signalling in human spermatozoa.Cell death discovery · 2026Article
- Oxidative Stress and Male Reproductive Health-First Edition.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The road to restore male fertility using in vitro-derived germ cells.Human reproduction update · 2026Review
- Epidemiological characteristics and temporal trends of male infertility in Egypt (2012-2022): Analysis of 3,037 consecutive cases.Arab journal of urology · 2026Article
- A randomized controlled trial comparing combination of letrozole and clomiphene citrate or letrozole alone for ovarian stimulation in infertile women.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Article
- Spermbots and Their Applications in Assisted Reproduction: Current Progress and Future Perspectives.International journal of nanomedicine · 2024Review
- YOLOv5s-SA: Light-Weighted and Improved YOLOv5s for Sperm Detection.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Semen quality has a direct relation to male fertility. Whether sperm variables in humans have decreased over the last years is still uncertain, with some studies showing a decline and others reporting no changes. In this regard, previous research has suggested that lifestyle and environmental conditions may contribute to this variability, calling for regional studies. The present work is a retrospective, unicentric study that includes semen samples analyzed between 1997 and 2017 at the Parc Taulí Hospital (Barcelona metropolitan area). First, a multivariate analysis including the age as a confounding factor showed a statistically significant decrease in semen volume, pH, progressive motility, morphology and total motile sperm over time. Contrarily, no significant variation in sperm count or concentration was observed. Mean reductions per year were -0.02 mL for volume, -0.57% for progressively motile sperm and -0.72% for sperm with normal morphology. Interestingly, the average annual temperature registered by the Spanish Meteorology Agency negatively correlated to sperm morphology and sperm count (Rs = -0.642;
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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.