Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42764948›Full record

ReviewCureus2026

From Test Offer to Urologic Follow-up: Acceptability of Semen Analysis in Male Infertility and Preconception Care.

Kosuke Kojo, Ayumi Nakazono, Tomoko Oguri

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Kosuke KojoDepartment of Urology, University of Tsukuba Hospital, Tsukuba, JPN.
Ayumi NakazonoCenter for Human Reproduction, International University of Health and Welfare Nasu Medical Center, Nasushiobara, JPN.
Tomoko OguriResearch Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, JPN.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Semen analysis is a basic component of male infertility evaluation and can serve as an entry point to male reproductive health and couple-based fertility care. However, its acceptability is shaped by features that differ from many routine laboratory tests, including the private and sexual nature of specimen collection, abstinence and timing requirements, privacy concerns, result anxiety, stigma, and uncertainty about clinical follow-up. This targeted narrative review synthesizes clinical, behavioral, psychosocial, technological, and Japanese-context evidence relevant to semen-analysis acceptability in male infertility and preconception/couple care. Rather than proposing or validating a new acceptability model, it presents an author-developed, provisional nine-stage map of semen-analysis service events: information reach, comprehension, self-relevance, emotional safety, collection feasibility, informed decision, sample submission, result interpretation, and care connection. It uses established acceptability and health-behavior concepts to interpret where attrition may occur. The map is conceptual and hypothesis-generating; its stages, boundaries, and candidate measures require prospective operationalization and validation. This pathway reframes low uptake or noncompletion as possible attrition before, during, or after testing, rather than as simple refusal. Evidence suggests that barriers may include limited fertility knowledge, fertility being framed as a women's issue, embarrassment, fear of abnormal results, stigma, collection logistics, and unsupported result return. Potential stage-specific responses include private and plain-language communication, non-shaming framing, feasible collection options, contextual result explanation, repeat-testing guidance, and referral to urology or male infertility care when indicated. Home collection and home-based or point-of-care tools may reduce procedural barriers, but they should not become unsupported endpoints without interpretation and care linkage. Improving semen-analysis acceptability should support informed, voluntary, unashamed, and clinically connected decision-making within equitable couple care.

Indexed as

acceptabilitymale infertilitymen’s healthpreconception caresemen analysisservice design

Identifiers

PMID42764948
PMCPMC13590113

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.