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. 2014 Dec 15;30(2):493–494. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deu322

The relationship between male BMI and waist circumference on semen quality: data from the LIFE study

Michael L Eisenberg 1,*, Sungduk Kim 2, Zhen Chen 2, Rajeshwari Sundaram 2, Enrique F Schisterman 2, Germaine M Buck Louis 2
PMCID: PMC4303771  PMID: 25516559

Hum Reprod 2014;29:193–200

There is an error in the annotation of Table I in this paper; the labels for men with high and low sperm DNA fragmentation were switched so that it appears the vast majority of men have abnormal results, when this is not the case.

Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of men, LIFE Study (n = 501).

Characteristics BMI
Total
<25 (n = 83) 25 to <30 (n = 191) 30 to <35 (n = 122) ≥35 (n = 72)
Age (years)
  ≤24 0 (0.0) 6 (3.1) 8 (6.6) 1 (1.4) 15 (3.2)
 25–29 29 (34.9) 55 (28.8) 41 (33.6) 26 (36.1) 151 (32.3)
 30–34 31 (37.4) 70 (36.7) 41 (33.6) 31 (43.1) 173 (37.0)
  ≥35 23 (27.7) 60 (31.4) 32 (26.2) 14 (19.4) 129 (27.6)
 Mean (±SD) 32 (4.8) 32 (4.8) 31.4 (4.9) 31.6 (4.8) 31.8 (4.8)
Self-reported race
 White 67 (80.7) 157 (82.2) 97 (79.5) 56 (77.8) 377 (80.6)
 Others 16 (19.3) 34 (17.8) 25 (20.5) 16 (22.2) 91 (19.4)
College education
 Yes 77 (92.8) 180 (94.2) 109 (89.3) 62 (86.1) 428 (91.5)
 No 6 (7.2) 11 (5.8) 13 (10.7) 10 (13.9) 40 (8.6)
Prior paternity
 Yes 39 (47.0) 85 (44.5) 68 (55.7) 32 (44.4) 224 (47.9)
 No 44 (53.0) 104 (54.5) 54 (44.3) 40 (55.6) 242 (51.7)
Waist circumference (cm)
  <93.9 76 (91.6) 72 (37.70) 4 (3.3) 2 (2.8) 154 (32.9)
 94.0–101.5 5 (6.0) 94 (49.2) 28 (23.0) 0 (0.0) 127 (27.1)
  ≥101.6 0 (0.0) 25 (13.1) 89 (73.0) 69 (95.8) 183 (39.1)
 Mean (±SD) 86.1 (5.1) 95.9 (8.3) 105.4 (6.9) 122.6 (14.5) 100.8 (14.2)
Vigorous physical activity (weekly)
  <1 52 (62.7) 102 (53.4) 72 (59.0) 44 (61.1) 270 (57.7)
  ≥1 31 (37.4) 89 (46.6) 50 (41.0) 28 (38.9) 198 (42.3)
 Mean (±SD) 1.1 (1.6) 1.5 (1.8) 1.4 (1.8) 1.5 (2.1) 1.4 (1.8)
Serum cotinine (ng/mL)
  ≤9.99 (nonsmoker) 66 (79.5) 158 (82.7) 89 (73.0) 53 (73.6) 366 (78.2)
  >10.0 (active smoker) 17 (20.5) 31 (16.2) 29 (23.8) 19 (26.4) 96 (20.5)
Volume (mL)
  <1.5 4 (4.8) 22 (11.5) 11 (9.0) 11 (15.3) 48 (10.3)
  ≥1.5 79 (95.2) 169 (88.5) 111 (91.0) 61 (84.7) 420 (89.7)
 Median (IQR) 3.5 (2.4–4.8) 3.4 (2.1–4.7) 3.2 (2.3–4.1) 2.8 (1.8–3.9) 3.2 (2.2–4.4)
Concentration (million/mL)
  <15 3 (3.6) 16 (8.4) 10 (8.2) 11 (15.3) 40 (8.6)
  ≥15 80 (96.4) 175 (91.6) 112 (91.8) 61 (84.7) 428 (91.4)
 Median (IQR) 55.3 (34.4–94.1) 63.2 (38.0–92.5) 62.4 (31.9–100.4) 60.0 (25.5–100.4) 60.8 (34.7–94.7)
Total sperm count (million)
  <39 3 (3.6) 17 (8.9) 9 (7.4) 13 (18.1) 42 (9.0)
  ≥39 80 (96.4) 174 (91.1) 113 (92.6) 59 (81.9) 426 (91.0)
 Median (IQR) 198.5 (112.8–336.9) 190.6 (100.3–338.1) 186.5 (99.1–305.1) 141.7 (58.4–286.5) 186.0 (97.8–319.3)
Vitality (%)
  <58 10 (12.1) 37 (19.4) 17 (13.9) 7 (9.7) 71 (15.2)
  ≥58 73 (87.9) 154 (80.6) 105 (86.1) 63 (87.5) 395 (84.4)
 Median (IQR) 70.7 (64.8–75.5) 67.6 (60.1–73.4) 66.6 (60.3–73.2) 70.2 (61.7–75.9) 68.5 (61.7–73.9)
Morphology (% WHO normal)
  <30 36 (43.4) 88 (46.1) 51 (41.8) 33 (45.8) 208 (44.4)
  ≥30 44 (53.0) 90 (47.1) 66 (54.1) 28 (38.9) 228 (48.7)
 Median (IQR) 31.8 (21.0–39.3) 30.0 (22.0–39.0) 32.5 (23.5–40.0) 29.5 (21.0–37.0) 30.5 (21.8–39.0)
Morphology (% strict criteria)
  <4 2 (2.4) 8 (4.2) 4 (3.3) 4 (5.6) 18 (3.9)
  ≥4 78 (94.0) 170 (89.0) 113 (92.6) 57 (79.2) 418 (89.3)
 Median (IQR) 21.3 (12.5–27.5) 19.3 (12.5–25.5) 20.5 (14.5–29.0) 17.0 (12.5–24.0) 20.0 (13.0–27.0)
DNA (% fragmentation index)
  ≥30 6 (7.2) 20 (10.5) 7 (5.7) 1 (1.4) 34 (7.3)
  <30 76 (91.6) 171 (89.5) 112 (91.8) 66 (91.7) 425 (90.8)
 Median (IQR) 11.9 (9.1–18.3) 13.1 (8.6–20.2) 12.8 (8.2–18.5) 11.5 (8.1–19.3) 12.4 (8.5–19.3)

Note: Five men found to be azoospermic on both samples were excluded.

IQR, interquartile range.

The corrected Table is reproduced below. The Author apologises for this error.


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