Social support modifies an association between work stress and semen quality: Results from 384 Chinese male workers.

OBJECTIVE: Psychosocial factors have been associated with a decline of the quality of semen. The study was aimed at (i) estimating the association between work stress and semen quality and (ii) exploring the moderating effect of social support in semen parameters among Chinese male workers.

METHODS: Data were obtained from 384 adult male workers recruited from April 2014 to December 2015 in Chongqing, China. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing demographic and life-style factors. Work stress and social support was measured by the Chinese version of a 22-item Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). They underwent a physical examination and provided a semen sample.

RESULTS: Subjects with high work stress were associated with a higher risk of being classified below WHO's thresholds for "normal," defined by sperm concentration (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.24-3.68, p = .006) or total sperm count (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.13-3.36, p = .02) criteria than subjects with low work stress were. However, these adverse associations were not observed among subjects with high social support (p = .80 for sperm concentration, and p = .39 for total sperm count). Interaction effects between social support and work stress on sperm concentration (p = .002) and total sperm count (p = .02) were detected.

CONCLUSION: Work stress is associated with lower levels of semen quality. Social support attenuates the negative association between work stress and semen quality, which may have implications for reproductive health.