Birth by caesarean section and semen quality in adulthood: a Danish population-based cohort study

Table 3 Relative differences in percentage in semen characteristics by delivery mode, the FEPOS cohort, Denmark, 1998–2019

Semen parameters	Number of observations^a	Relative differences in percentage ^b
		Unadjusted model	Adjusted model
		%	% (95% CI)
Semen volume^f	818	5.6 (− 6.8 to 18.5)	5.3 (− 5.3 to 17.1)^c
Total sperm count^f	818	0.9 (− 17.4 to 22.3)	− 0.8 (− 14.9 to 15.8)^c
Sperm concentration	988	5.4 (− 11.7 to 24.2)	4.3 (− 11.2 to 22.5)^d
Non-progressive motility^gh	965	− 6.0 (− 13.8 to 1.3)	− 7.5 (− 14.1 to − 0.4)^e
Morphologically normal sperm^g	966	2.0 (− 11.5 to 17.4)	− 2.0 (− 14.2 to 11.8)^d

^aNumber of observations in adjusted model for each parameters
^bRelative percentage differences were obtained using sons born of vaginal delivery as the reference
^cAdjusted for maternal age at delivery, highest socioeconomic status of parents, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal smoking in the 1st trimester, place of semen sample collection, abstinence time
^dFurther adjusted for spillage
^eFurther adjusted for spillage and interval from ejaculation to analysis
^f180 samples were excluded for the analyses on semen volume and total sperm count due to spillage
^gFor non-progressive motility and morphology, 17 samples were not available for analyses due to azoospermia
^hNon-progressive motility was modeled as (non-progressive + immotile spermatozoa) %, and a negative estimate indicated a relatively lower non-progressive motility (ie. higher progressive motility)

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