{"doi":"10.1111/andr.13242","title":"Male personal heat exposures and fecundability: A preconception cohort study","abstract":"BACKGROUND: Several studies indicate adverse effects of selected heat exposures on semen quality, but few studies have directly evaluated fertility as an endpoint. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated prospectively the association between male heat exposures and fecundability, the per-cycle probability of conception. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed data from 3041 couples residing in the United States or Canada who enrolled in a prospective preconception cohort study (2013-2021). At enrollment, males reported on several heat-related exposures, such as use of saunas, hot baths, seat heaters, and tight-fitting underwear. Pregnancy status was updated on female follow-up questionnaires every 8 weeks until conception or a censoring event (initiation of fertility treatment, cessation of pregnancy attempts, withdrawal, loss to follow-up, or 12 cycles), whichever came first. We used proportional probabilities regression models to estimate fecundability ratios (FR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between heat exposures and fecundability, mutually adjusting for heat exposures and other potential confounders. RESULTS: We observed small inverse associations for hot bath/tub use (≥3 vs. 0 times/month: FR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.70-1.07) and fever in the 3 months before baseline (FR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.79-1.12; one cycle of follow-up: FR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.64-1.11). Little association was found for sauna use, hours of laptop use on one's lap, seat heater use, time spent sitting, and use of tight-fitting underwear. Based on a cumulative heat metric, FRs for 1, 2, 3, and ≥4 versus 0 heat exposures were 0.99 (95% CI: 0.87-1.12), 1.03 (95% CI: 0.89-1.19), 0.94 (95% CI: 0.74-1.19), and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.50-1.17), respectively. Associations were stronger among men aged ≥30 years (≥4 vs. 0 heat exposures: FR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.34-1.04). CONCLUSION: Male use of hot tubs/baths and fever showed weak inverse associations with fecundability. Cumulative exposure to multiple heat sources was associated with a moderate reduction in fecundability, particularly among males aged ≥30 years.","journal":"Andrology","year":2022,"id":265964,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":10,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.6551,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":926137,"name":"Dhruv J. Joglekar","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":371913,"name":"Elizabeth E. Hatch","orcid":"0000-0001-7901-3928","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":5904,"name":"Kenneth J. Rothman","orcid":"0000-0003-2398-1705","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":371912,"name":"Amelia K. Wesselink","orcid":"0000-0002-3929-4451","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":417804,"name":"Mary D. Willis","orcid":"0000-0002-0247-7983","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":372995,"name":"Tanran R. Wang","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":463277,"name":"Ellen M. Mikkelsen","orcid":"0000-0003-0158-7950","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":232339,"name":"Michael L. Eisenberg","orcid":"0000-0001-5482-0141","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":329832,"name":"Lauren A. Wise","orcid":"0000-0003-2138-3752","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":611016,"name":"Craig J. McKinnon","orcid":"0000-0001-5768-4237","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":63,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:26:54.081997Z","pmid":"35924639","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}