Healthy eating index in Iranian infertile men: A cross-sectional study

Background: Infertility had an increasing trend between couples in Iran. Some epidemiological studies have reported a relationship between infertility and lifestyle patterns including dietary habits. Our objective was to identify the relation between Healthy eating index and sperm parameters in Iranian infertile men. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional was performed on 400 newly diagnosed infertile men in Yazd Reproductive Sciences Institute from July to December 2019. Men were recruited when their infertility was confirmed by the expert andrologist based on WHO criteria. They delivered a semen sample and answered a 168 items semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).All data were analyzed using SPSS V. 22 software. P-value less than 0.5 considered as significant. Results: There was significant association between sperm density and HEI score tertile in crude model but after adjustment for potential confounders there was not any association. Participants in highest tertile had a higher risk of density and lower risk of motility in crude model (OR =1.69; 95 Percentage CI: 1.00, 2.88; P=0.05 and OR=1.31; 95 Percentage CI: 0.78, 2.21; P=0.29) and risk of density (OR=1.15; 95 Percentage CI: 0.65, 2.03; P=0.63 and OR=1.31; 95 Percentage CI: 0.71, 2.40; P=0.38) and motility decrease in adjusted models (OR=0.86; 95 Percentage CI: 0.49, 1.52; P=0.59 and OR=0.92; 95 Percentage CI: 0.50, 1.67; P=0.74). Conclusions: We concluded that adherence to HEI principles can have a positive effect on men's fertility. However, more research is needed to confirm these relations and provide the evidence needed to exert these findings into clinical practice.