Effects of psychological stress on semen quality and sex hormones in men of childbearing age
Objective This study aimed to explore the relationship between psychological stress and semen quality,as well as sex hormone levels in males.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on semen quality and sex hormone level data obtained from 120 male patients at the Reproductive Medicine Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University.The stress perception scale(PSS-14)was used to assess recent psychological stress semen quality were analyzed by computer-assisted sperm analysis(CASA)according to the World Health Organization's(WHO)manual of labo-ratory testing of human semen(5th edition).Fasting serum hormone levels were measured using electrochemiluminescence.The patients were divided into low stress group(n=22),moderate stress group(n=70),and high stress group(n=28)based on their PSS-14 scores and the effects of psychological stress on semen quality and sex hormones in men of childbearing age were analyzed.Results The semen volume,sperm concentration and percentage of forward motion in the high stress group were significantly lower than those in the low stress group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.0001).Spearman rank correlation analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between decreased semen quality in reproductive-age males and psychological stress(P＜0.05),with correlation coefficients of-0.7603219,-0.7908883,and-0.8205084 for semen volume,sperm concentration,and forward motility,respectively.Nevertheless,there was insufficient evidence to establish a correlation between changes in sex hormone parameters and psychological stress(P＞0.05).Conclusion Elevated psychologi-cal stress is associated with decreased semen quality in males of reproductive age.High perceived psychological stress acts as a sensitive indicator affecting semen quality,although lacking a significant association with sex hormone levels.
万方数据
维普
