Men with inflammatory joint diseases have more children than those without IJDs
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Key takeaways:
- The researchers noted that male patients with inflammatory joint diseases have concerns about fertility.
- The result was consistent over time and after adjusting for age at diagnosis.
Men with inflammatory joint diseases have more children and are less likely to be childless, compared with those without inflammatory joint diseases, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
“Our male patients with inflammatory joint diseases (IJDs) are often concerned about possible effects of their disease and medication on fertility,” Gudrun D. Sigmo, of Stavanger University Hospital, in Norway, told Healio. “There has been a lack of large studies regarding male fertility in patients with IJDs, and hence the recommendations we use — regarding medication, et cetera — are extrapolated from documentation on female reproduction and fertility.”
To examine the fertility of men with inflammatory joint diseases, Sigmo and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of 10,865 adult men with rheumatoid arthritis (37%), psoriatic arthritis (33%) or spondyloarthritis (30%) using data from three nationwide Norwegian registries. The number of children for each patient was compared with five age- and residence-matched men randomly selected from all inhabitants of Norway. The researchers additionally compared the proportion of childless men in each group.
According to the researchers, men with inflammatory joint diseases demonstrated a significantly higher average number of children compared with matched men — 1.8 vs. 1.69 (P < .001). This result was “largely driven by” 27% of men in the comparison group being childless vs. only 21% of the men with inflammatory joint diseases (P < .001), Sigmo and colleagues wrote.
In addition, this finding remained consistent over time and was reflected when subgroups were analyzed by age at diagnosis and historical era of diagnosis. Only men with inflammatory joint diseases in the youngest age bracket of 0 to 19 years had a slightly lower mean number of children vs. the comparison group.
“Male patients with IJDs may be reassured that no impairment of fertility is expected,” Sigmo told Healio. However, she cautioned that future studies should be performed in specific diagnoses to reveal “more targeted patient information.” “
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