Table 3.
Fertility questions by gender among participants with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis prior to surgery (N = 330)
| Males | Females | |
|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | N = 161 | N = 169 |
| How has your sexual life changed compared to before surgery? | ||
| Better | 27 (17 %) | 43 (25 %) |
| Same | 69 (43 %) | 42 (25 %) |
| Worse | 44 (27 %) | 47 (28 %) |
| Not applicable or do not wish to answer | 21 (13 %) | 37 (22 %) |
| Since surgery | ||
| I have tried to conceive or have biological children | 23 (14 %) | 25 (15 %) |
| I have had difficulties conceiving since my surgerya | 5/23 (22 %) | 16/25 (64 %) |
| Number of children | ||
| None | 64 (40 %) | 72 (43 %) |
| 1–3 | 90 (56 %) | 72 (54 %) |
| 4 or more | 6 (4 %) | 4 (2 %) |
| Do not wish to answer | 1 (1 %) | 1 (1 %) |
Having mild disease prior to surgery is largely uncharacteristic of the pre-colectomy UC population, as colectomy is typically indicated for moderate to severe UC, and thus those patients were excluded from the selected analyses that specifically compared pre- and post-colectomy
aOf patients who tried to conceive children