Pregnancy and Urban Environment (PRUNE) Cohort Profile and Built Environment in Infertile Couples

Background: Addressing the association between the perceived physical environment and human fertility is necessary to understand the impact of the built environment on reproductive health and develop effective interventions to improve human fertility. We assessed the association between perceived bu...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Eunseon Gwak, Taemi Kim, Erdenetuya Bolormaa, Hyun Tae Park, Seung-Ah Choe, Jee Hyun Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IMR Press 2023-11-01
Series:Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.imrpress.com/journal/CEOG/50/11/10.31083/j.ceog5011249
_version_ 1827592918817308672
author Eunseon Gwak
Taemi Kim
Erdenetuya Bolormaa
Hyun Tae Park
Seung-Ah Choe
Jee Hyun Kim
author_facet Eunseon Gwak
Taemi Kim
Erdenetuya Bolormaa
Hyun Tae Park
Seung-Ah Choe
Jee Hyun Kim
author_sort Eunseon Gwak
collection DOAJ
description Background: Addressing the association between the perceived physical environment and human fertility is necessary to understand the impact of the built environment on reproductive health and develop effective interventions to improve human fertility. We assessed the association between perceived built environment and pregnancy in infertility patients. Methods: We constructed a prospective cohort study (Pregnancy and Urban Environment, PRUNE) recruiting 778 eligible infertility patients who visited one of the two university-affiliated infertility centers for infertility treatment between 2019 and 2022. Using a mobile survey, we collected the information of demographic, clinical characteristics, residential address, perceived proximity to neighborhood green and blue space, and environmental noise. Adjusted risk ratios (aRR) were calculated for the achievement of pregnancy within three months of survey participation. Results: In the 728 infertility patients, 445 completed the second round of survey. Median age of women and men was 39 and 40 years, respectively. Most reported they have green (91%) and blue space (67%) within a 10-min walking distance. A fourth of patients (26%) had an annoying environmental noise. Probability of pregnancy within three months was higher for those who had green space within walking distance (aRR = 1.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.06, 1.32). The association with pregnancy was close null for blue space and annoying environmental noise. The aRR for women and for men was comparable (p for interaction = 0.875). Conclusions: We observed a positive association between living close to green space and pregnancy. This finding would provide evidence of the potential impact of built environment on human fecundity in infertility couples. Clinical Trial Registration: This study is registered in the Clinical Research Information Service (https://cris.nih.go.kr, CRIS number: KCT0003560).
first_indexed 2024-03-09T02:02:42Z
format Article
id doaj.art-483ecf7fb8ea4b209992942b991a6a6b
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0390-6663
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T02:02:42Z
publishDate 2023-11-01
publisher IMR Press
record_format Article
series Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology
spelling doaj.art-483ecf7fb8ea4b209992942b991a6a6b2023-12-08T02:49:16ZengIMR PressClinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology0390-66632023-11-01501124910.31083/j.ceog5011249S0390-6663(23)02206-6Pregnancy and Urban Environment (PRUNE) Cohort Profile and Built Environment in Infertile CouplesEunseon Gwak0Taemi Kim1Erdenetuya Bolormaa2Hyun Tae Park3Seung-Ah Choe4Jee Hyun Kim5Department of Preventive Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, 02841 Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Public Health, Korea University, 02841 Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, 02841 Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine, 02841 Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, 02841 Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, CHA University Bundang Medical Center, 13496 Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaBackground: Addressing the association between the perceived physical environment and human fertility is necessary to understand the impact of the built environment on reproductive health and develop effective interventions to improve human fertility. We assessed the association between perceived built environment and pregnancy in infertility patients. Methods: We constructed a prospective cohort study (Pregnancy and Urban Environment, PRUNE) recruiting 778 eligible infertility patients who visited one of the two university-affiliated infertility centers for infertility treatment between 2019 and 2022. Using a mobile survey, we collected the information of demographic, clinical characteristics, residential address, perceived proximity to neighborhood green and blue space, and environmental noise. Adjusted risk ratios (aRR) were calculated for the achievement of pregnancy within three months of survey participation. Results: In the 728 infertility patients, 445 completed the second round of survey. Median age of women and men was 39 and 40 years, respectively. Most reported they have green (91%) and blue space (67%) within a 10-min walking distance. A fourth of patients (26%) had an annoying environmental noise. Probability of pregnancy within three months was higher for those who had green space within walking distance (aRR = 1.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.06, 1.32). The association with pregnancy was close null for blue space and annoying environmental noise. The aRR for women and for men was comparable (p for interaction = 0.875). Conclusions: We observed a positive association between living close to green space and pregnancy. This finding would provide evidence of the potential impact of built environment on human fecundity in infertility couples. Clinical Trial Registration: This study is registered in the Clinical Research Information Service (https://cris.nih.go.kr, CRIS number: KCT0003560).https://www.imrpress.com/journal/CEOG/50/11/10.31083/j.ceog5011249infertilitynoisegreen spaceblue spaceenvironment
spellingShingle Eunseon Gwak
Taemi Kim
Erdenetuya Bolormaa
Hyun Tae Park
Seung-Ah Choe
Jee Hyun Kim
Pregnancy and Urban Environment (PRUNE) Cohort Profile and Built Environment in Infertile Couples
Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology
infertility
noise
green space
blue space
environment
title Pregnancy and Urban Environment (PRUNE) Cohort Profile and Built Environment in Infertile Couples
title_full Pregnancy and Urban Environment (PRUNE) Cohort Profile and Built Environment in Infertile Couples
title_fullStr Pregnancy and Urban Environment (PRUNE) Cohort Profile and Built Environment in Infertile Couples
title_full_unstemmed Pregnancy and Urban Environment (PRUNE) Cohort Profile and Built Environment in Infertile Couples
title_short Pregnancy and Urban Environment (PRUNE) Cohort Profile and Built Environment in Infertile Couples
title_sort pregnancy and urban environment prune cohort profile and built environment in infertile couples
topic infertility
noise
green space
blue space
environment
url https://www.imrpress.com/journal/CEOG/50/11/10.31083/j.ceog5011249
work_keys_str_mv AT eunseongwak pregnancyandurbanenvironmentprunecohortprofileandbuiltenvironmentininfertilecouples
AT taemikim pregnancyandurbanenvironmentprunecohortprofileandbuiltenvironmentininfertilecouples
AT erdenetuyabolormaa pregnancyandurbanenvironmentprunecohortprofileandbuiltenvironmentininfertilecouples
AT hyuntaepark pregnancyandurbanenvironmentprunecohortprofileandbuiltenvironmentininfertilecouples
AT seungahchoe pregnancyandurbanenvironmentprunecohortprofileandbuiltenvironmentininfertilecouples
AT jeehyunkim pregnancyandurbanenvironmentprunecohortprofileandbuiltenvironmentininfertilecouples