Civil war and male infertility in Lebanon.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the long-term impacts of the 15-year Lebanese civil war on male infertility.


METHODS
Clinic-based, case-control study, using reproductive history and risk factor interview data and laboratory-based semen analysis.


METHODS
Two IVF clinics in Beirut, Lebanon, during an 8-month period (January-August 2003).


METHODS
One hundred twenty infertile male cases and 100 fertile male controls, distinguished by semen analysis and reproductive history.


METHODS
None.


METHODS
Standard clinical semen analysis.


RESULTS
Infertile male cases were more likely than fertile controls to have lived through the Lebanese civil war and to have experienced war-related trauma (residence in bombing areas, participation in combat, injuries, kidnapping, and displacement from home). Cases had a 57% increase in their odds of exposure to civil war-related trauma.


CONCLUSIONS
This case-control study demonstrates an association between the Lebanese civil war and male infertility. Wartime and postwar exposure to a number of potential reproductive risk factors-including toxins, injuries, and stress-is believed to be the main factor leading to this finding.
Kobeissi
Loulou
L
University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Inhorn
Marcia C
MC
Hannoun
Antoine B
AB
Hammoud
Najwa
N
Awwad
Johnny
J
Abu-Musa
Antoine A
AA
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000209:etiology*; D007861:Lebanon; D008297:Male; D012661:Semen / Q000502:physiology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications; D014857:Warfare