Table I.
Baseline characteristics of the study population according to quartiles of fruit and vegetable intake.
| Characteristics | High pesticide residue fruit and vegetable intake |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | P valuea | |
| Number of men | 155 | 38 | 39 | 39 | 39 | |
| Median, serving/d | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 2.1 | |
| Range (min, max) | 0.2, 3.6 | 0.2, 0.6 | 0.6, 0.9 | 0.9, 1.5 | 1.5, 3.6 | |
| Median (IQR) or n (%) | ||||||
| Demographics | ||||||
| Age, years | 36.1 (33.0, 39.2) | 33.9 (31.8, 38.4) | 34.8 (32.9, 38.8) | 36.7 (33.8, 38.7) | 36.7 (35.1, 41.4) | 0.01 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 27.0 (24.2,29.1) | 27.8 (26, 29.2) | 26.7 (23.7, 29.1) | 26.9 (24.2, 28.9) | 29.5 (23.7, 29.5) | 0.58 |
| Never smokers, n% | 98 (63) | 19 (50) | 26 (66.7) | 27 (69.2) | 26 (66.7) | 0.28 |
| Moderate-vigorous exercise, h/week | 3.2 (1.0, 7.2) | 2.4 (0.3, 4) | 2.5 (0.9, 5.7) | 5.0 (1.2, 7.5) | 4.0 (1.0, 8.0) | 0.11 |
| White, n% | 129 (83) | 34 (89.5) | 32 (82.1) | 32 (82.1) | 31 (79.5) | 0.68 |
| Abstinence time, hours | 58.5 (45.5, 81.0) | 51.0 (36.0, 81.0) | 61.0 (49.0, 77.0) | 56.5 (47.5, 81.5) | 56.5 (47.0, 84.0) | 0.78 |
| Time from FFQ completion to first semen collection, days | 158 (82, 258) | 185 (80, 248) | 112 (51, 296) | 118 (39, 253) | 199 (127, 256) | 0.31 |
| Season of sample collection (338 semen samples) | 0.72 | |||||
| Spring, n% | 79 (23) | 25 (30) | 18 (19) | 22 (25) | 14 (20) | |
| Summer, n% | 73 (22) | 15 (18) | 21 (22) | 20 (22) | 17 (24) | |
| Fall, n% | 92 (27) | 25 (30) | 27 (28) | 20 (22) | 20 (28) | |
| Winter, % | 94 (28) | 18 (22) | 29 (31) | 27 (30) | 20 (28) | |
| Diet | ||||||
| Alcohol, g/day | 9.9 (2.6, 19.3) | 9.7 (2.9, 15.8) | 10.6 (2.9, 23.5) | 9.9 (5.2, 17.3) | 8.9 (1.4, 17.6) | 0.67 |
| Caffeine, g/day | 143 (55, 245) | 114 (53, 224) | 151 (99, 281) | 243 (123, 299) | 120 (40, 244) | 0.007 |
| High-fat dairy intake, serv/d | 1.0 (0.6, 1.7) | 0.9 (0.6, 1.7) | 0.9 (0.6, 1.7) | 1.0 (0.6, 1.3) | 1.0 (0.5, 1.9) | 0.95 |
| Low-fat dairy intake, serv/d | 0.8 (0.3, 1.2) | 0.5 (0.1, 0.9) | 0.6 (0.2, 1.1) | 1.0 (0.6, 1.5) | 0.9 (0.3, 1.3) | 0.01 |
| Processed meat intake, serv/d | 0.4 (0.2, 0.6) | 0.4 (0.3, 0.6) | 0.4 (0.2, 0.6) | 0.4 (0.2, 0.5) | 0.4 (0.2, 0.7) | 0.72 |
| Total fish intake, serv/d | 0.2 (0.1, 0.3) | 0.2 (0.1, 0.2) | 0.2 (0.2, 0.3) | 0.3 (0.1, 0.3) | 0.2 (0.1, 0.3) | 0.08 |
| Total carbohydrate, % energy | 48.3 (42.5, 54.6) | 46.9 (42.8, 55.8) | 46.4 (41.6, 53.5) | 50.9 (45, 54.4) | 49.5 (45, 56.4) | 0.22 |
| Total protein, % energy | 16.1 (14.5, 17.6) | 15.9 (13.6, 17.3) | 15.9 (14.5, 17.3) | 16.6 (15.2, 17.9) | 15.9 (14.7, 18.6) | 0.51 |
| Total fat, % energy | 32.0 (27.4, 35.6) | 32.3 (27.7, 35.4) | 32.8 (29.4, 36.8) | 30.5 (26.6, 33.2) | 33 (26.7, 35.7) | 0.41 |
| Total energy intake, kcal/day | 2033 (1634, 2486) | 1769 (1339, 2384) | 1913 (1429, 2258) | 2096 (1794, 2528) | 2258 (1879, 2808) | 0.005 |
| Prudent pattern scoreb | −0.1 (−0.7, 0.5) | −0.9 (−1.3, −0.6) | −0.5 (−0.7, −0.2) | 0.1 (−0.1, 0.5) | 1.0 (0.3, 1.7) | <0.0001 |
| Western pattern scoreb | −0.2 (−0.7, 0.5) | −0.2 (−0.7, 0.5) | −0.1 (−0.8, 0.7) | −0.2 (−0.9, 0.5) | −0.2 (−0.4, 0.6) | 0.80 |
| Self-reported reproductive history, n% | ||||||
| Male factor infertility diagnosis | 44 (28) | 9 (24) | 13 (33.3) | 9 (23.1) | 13 (33) | 0.86 |
| Previous infertility exam | 118 (76) | 26 (68.4) | 29 (74.4) | 32 (82.1) | 31 (79.5) | 0.52 |
| History of cryptorchidism | 6 (4) | 1 (2.6) | 2 (5.1) | 2 (5.1) | 1 (2.6) | 1.00 |
| History of varicocele | 15 (10) | 6 (15.8) | 5 (12.8) | 3 (7.7) | 1 (2.6) | 0.17 |
| Any reproductive surgeryc | 6 (5) | 2 (6.9) | 1 (3.2) | 3 (11.1) | 0 (0) | 0.36 |
IQR, interquartile range; FFQ, food frequency questionnaire; serv/d, serving/day.
aFor continuous variables, Kruskal–Wallis analyses were used to test for associations across quartiles of fruit and vegetable intake. For categorical variables, Fisher's exact tests were used to test the associations between quartiles of fruit and vegetable intake.
bDietary patterns were constructed by factor analysis as described in Gaskins et al. (2012). A higher score indicates higher adherence to the prudent or western dietary patterns.
cReport of any of the following: orchidopexy, varicocelectomy, hydrocelectomy, hernia repair, urethral repair, hypospadias repair, sympathectomy, bladder neck surgery or other reproductive surgery.