Medical Factors

Publications under ‘Medical Factors’ examine the association of mental and physical medical conditions as well as medication use with fertility and reproductive outcomes. 

McInerney KA, Hatch EE, Wesselink AK, Rothman KJ, Mikkelsen EM, Wise LA. Preconception use of pain-relievers and time to pregnancy: a prospective cohort study. Human Reprod 2016; 32(1): 103-111.

Women who used naproxen and opioids in the past month had slightly lower fecundability than women who did not use any pain medications. Other pain-relieving medications (acetaminophen, aspirin, and ibuprofen) were not associated with fecundability.

Nillni YI, Wesselink AK, Gradus JL, Hatch EE, Rothman KJ, Mikkelsen EM, Wise LA. Depression, anxiety, and psychotropic medication use and fecundability. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2016; 215(4): 453e1-8.

Women with severe symptoms of depression had lower fecundability than women with no or low symptoms of depression. Current or past use of medications for mental health conditions was not associated with reduced fecundability.

McInerney KA, Hatch EE, Wesselink AK, Mikkelsen EM, Rothman KJ, Perkins RB, Wise LA. The effect of vaccination against human papillomavirus on fecundability. Paediatr Perinal Epidemiol 2017; 31(6): 531-536.

Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) was not associated with fecundability among men or women overall. However, among women with a history of sexually transmitted infections or pelvic inflammatory disease, HPV vaccination was associated with higher fecundability.

Nillni YI, Wesselink AK, Hatch EE, Mikkelsen EM, Gradus JL, Rothman KJ, Wise LA. Mental health, psychotropic medication use, and menstrual cycle characteristics. Clin Epidemiol 2018; 28(10): 1073-1082.

Women with severe symptoms of depression and higher perceived stress were more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles. Use of medications for mental health conditions was not related to menstrual cycle regularity or length, after accounting for history of anxiety or depression diagnoses.

Wesselink AK, Hatch EE, Rothman KJ, Weuve JL, Aschengrau A, Song RJ, Wise LA. Perceived stress and fecundability: A preconception cohort study of North American couples. Am J Epidemiol 2018; 187(12): 2662-2671.

Among women, higher perceived stress was associated with slightly lower fecundability. Among men, perceived stress was not associated with fecundability.

Crowe HM, Wise LA, Wesselink AK, Rothman KJ, Mikkelsen EM, Sørensen HT, Walkey AJ, Hatch EE. Association of asthma diagnosis and medication use with fecundability: a prospective cohort study. Clin Epidemiol 2020; 12: 579-587

Among women, history of diagnosed asthma and asthma medication use were not associated with fecundability.

Haviland MJ, Nillni YI , Fox MP, Savitz DA, Hatch EE, Rothman KJ, Hacker MR, Wang TR, Wise LA. Psychotropic medication use during pregnancy and gestational age at delivery. Ann Epidemiol 2020; 21: S1047-2797(20)30291-X.

Women who used psychotropic medications (such as anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications) during pregnancy had an average gestation 1 week shorter than women who never used psychotropic medications.

Orta OR, Hatch EE, Regan AK, et al. A prospective study of influenza vaccination and time to pregnancy. Vaccine 2020 38(27):4246-4251.

Preconception influenza vaccination (“flu shot”) in either the male or female partner was not associated with reduced fecundability.

Wise LA, Willis SK, Perkins RB, Wesselink AK, Klann A, Crowe HM, Hahn KA, Mikkelsen EM, Hatch EE. A prospective study of treatments for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and fecundability. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2020; 223(1):96.e1-96.e15.

A history of treatments for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or abnormal Paps was not associated with fecundability.