SynthesisSports medicine - open2024
The Effect of Endurance Exercise on Semen Quality in Male Athletes: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Sports medicine - open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 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
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effects of sport disciplines on offspring sex ratio in elite athletes: an observational study.Scientific reports · 2025Observational
- The Influence of an Intense Training Regime in Professional and Non-Professional Athletes on Semen Parameters: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEndurance exercise has the potential to affect reproductive function, with amenorrhea in female athletes. However, most studies focus on women. Evidence on the association between endurance exercise and male fertility is limited.
objectiveTo synthesise existing literature on exercise-induced alterations in semen parameters and to assess the clinical impact on male fertility.
methodsStudies reporting on the association between semen parameters and endurance exercise in healthy men were eligible. Men attending fertility clinics were excluded. We searched MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, SPORTDiscus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), ClinicalTrials.gov and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) from their inception to May 28th 2022. JBI Critical Appraisal Tool was used to assess the potential risk of bias.
resultsThirteen studies met inclusion criteria, reporting on 280 subjects. Eight articles reported on endurance runners, three on cyclists and four on triathletes. Four studies did not find any statistically significant sperm alterations. Five reported significant changes in semen parameters, but these were not clinically relevant, as semen parameters remained well above World Health Organisation (WHO) thresholds. Four articles reported a decrease in semen quality with potential clinical consequences as they found a reduced number of sperm cells exhibiting normal morphology in cyclists and triathletes and a greater amount of DNA fragmentation in triathletes.
conclusionEndurance exercise can have a negative effect on semen quality, although rarely with a clinically relevant impact on male fertility. Evidence is however limited, with poor quality of the included studies. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews (CRD42022336753).
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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.