Endocrine Abstracts

Numerous studies provided data on possible decline in human fertility over the last decades and geografic differences in it. So, recently research interest in these tendencies and possible factors affecting fertility is increased.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to explore women’s fertility expressed as time to pregnancy (TTP) – the number of contraceptive-free cycles needed to conceive – in a large cohort of Lithuanian women and the effect of biological and social factors along with sexual behaviour on TTP.

Methods: Data were gathered from 1813 women who delivered babies during the 16 months-period at one hospital. The information was collected retrospectively by using self-administered questionnaires. Odds ratios were determined for many factors. Multivariate models were used to determine which factors had the most impact on TTP.

Results: The mean TTP was 3.88 months (S.D.=9.0). Advanced age at conception was associated with an increase in TTP, especially in the age group between 30 and 35 (P<0.001). Women who had achieved higher levels of education had longer TTPs (P=0.049), as did women who had irregular menstrual cycles (P<0.001) and those who did not use contraception prior to conceiving (P=0.01). Financial and marital status did not affect fecundity, nor did contraceptive method.

Conclusions: Women’s age and irregular menstrual cycle were the most important factors predicting TTP of 12 and more months. Surprisingly contraception use before conception negatively influenced TTP either.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.