To review the impact of sleep disorders on male fertility and emphasize the critical need for integrating sleep assessment into fertility evaluations.
Key Findings:
Sleep disorders like insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are linked to reduced semen quality and hormonal dysregulation, with mechanisms involving oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.
Abnormal sleep duration and poor sleep quality correlate with lower sperm concentration, motility, and morphology.
OSA is associated with hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, and increased infertility risk.
Sleep disruption leads to oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and dysfunction of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis.
Sleep disorders are a modifiable risk factor for male infertility and should be assessed during fertility evaluations.
Limitations:
Evidence for fertility outcomes is heterogeneous.
Need for longitudinal studies to identify which patient subgroups benefit most from sleep-focused therapies, and for collaboration between sleep medicine and reproductive specialists.
Conclusion:
Integrating sleep assessment into fertility evaluations can improve risk stratification and enable targeted interventions, with a call for longitudinal studies to define the most beneficial patient subgroups.
