• Juyeon Lee, Chang-Woo Choo, Kyoung Yong Moon, Sang Woo Lyu, Hoon Kim, Joong Yeup Lee, Jung Ryeol Lee, Byung Chul Jee, Kyungjoo Hwang, Seok Hyun Kim, and Sue K Park.
• Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2024 Mar 18; 39 (10): e85e85.

BackgroundFemale infertility is a crucial problem with significant implications for individuals and society. In this study, we explore risk factors for infertility in Korean women.MethodsA total of 986 female patients who visited six major infertility clinics in Korea were recruited from April to December 2014. Fertile age-matched controls were selected from two nationwide survey study participants. Conditional logistic regression after age-matching was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of each risk factor for infertility.ResultsWomen with a body mass index (BMI) < 18.5 kg/m² had 1.35 times higher odds of infertility (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.03-1.77), while those with a BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m² had even higher odds (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.61-2.64) compared to women with a normal BMI (18.5 kg/m² ≤ BMI < 25 kg/m²). Ever-smokers exhibited 4.94 times higher odds of infertility compared to never-smokers (95% CI, 3.45-8.85). Concerning alcohol consumption, women who consumed ≥ 7 glasses at a time showed 3.13 times significantly higher odds of infertility than those who consumed ≤ 4 glasses at a time (95% CI, 1.79-5.48). Lastly, women with thyroid disease demonstrated 1.44 times higher odds of infertility compared to women without thyroid disease (95% CI, 1.00-2.08).ConclusionFemale infertility in Korea was associated with underweight, obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and thyroid disease.© 2024 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

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