title: Use of multivitamins, intake of B vitamins, and risk of ovulatory infertility.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether use of multivitamins and intake of specific nutrients in multivitamins is associated with ovulatory infertility.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Nurses' Health Study II.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen thousand five hundred fifty-five married, premenopausal women without a history of infertility who attempted a pregnancy or became pregnant between 1991 and 1999.
  
  
  METHODS
  None, observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Incident reports of infertility caused by anovulation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 8 years of follow-up, 438 women reported infertility caused by ovulatory disorder. There was an inverse association between frequency of multivitamin use and ovulatory infertility. The multivariate-adjusted relative risk (95% confidence interval) of ovulatory infertility was 0.88 (0.60, 1.28) for women consuming two tablets per week or less, 0.69 (0.51, 0.95) for women consuming three to five tablets per week, and 0.59 (0.46, 0.75) for women consuming six or more tablets per week, when compared with women who did not use these supplements (P, trend <.001). Folic acid appeared to explain part of the association between multivitamin supplement use and risk of ovulatory infertility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regular use of multivitamin supplements may decrease the risk of ovulatory infertility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. jchavarr@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Jorge E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Chavarro
authors.forename: Janet W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Rich-Edwards
authors.forename: Bernard A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000858:Anovulation / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008019:Life Style; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010060:Ovulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014803:Vitamin B Complex / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D014815:Vitamins; D014803:Vitamin B Complex; D005492:Folic Acid