Vasectomy and Health: Cardiovascular and Other Diseases Following Vasectomy in Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China

Abstract

The long-term sequelae of vasectomy were studied in a retrospective cohort study of 4596 vasectomized and 4340 nonvasectomized farmers from eight rural communes in Sichuan, People's Republic of China. The mean duration since the operation was 14.5 years with a range of 10 to 25 years. At the time of evaluation the vasectomized men were generally healthier than the non-vasectomized for a wide range of health indicators including clinical signs of cardiovascular disease, resting ECG changes, positive ECG changes following a maximal stress test, or fundus abnormalities. The lack of association between vasectomy and cardiovascular disease noted in Europe and the USA is supported by the present study conducted in a population with a low prevalence of cardiovascular disease and risk factors.

Vasectomy and cardiovascular disease risk

“…Moreover, 2 were cross-sectional, [ 19 , 25 ] 4 were case–control, [ 17 , 18 , 21 , 26 ] and 6 were retrospective cohort studies. [ 20 , 22 – 24 , 27 , 28 ] The publication years of the included studies ranged from 1981 to 2005. Among them, seven were conducted in the United States, [ 19 , 20 , 23 – 26 , 28 ] 1 in China, [ 27 ] 2 in England, [ 21 , 22 ] and 2 in Korea.…”

“…[ 20 , 22 – 24 , 27 , 28 ] The publication years of the included studies ranged from 1981 to 2005. Among them, seven were conducted in the United States, [ 19 , 20 , 23 – 26 , 28 ] 1 in China, [ 27 ] 2 in England, [ 21 , 22 ] and 2 in Korea. [ 17 , 18 ] Furthermore, 6 studies were performed among the middle-aged and elderly populations, [ 17 – 24 , 26 – 28 ] but one study did not report this.…”

“…Data on CVD mortality were available for analysis from 4 studies (2 case–control [ 17 , 18 ] and 4 retrospective cohort studies [ 20 , 27 ] ; Fig. 3 ).…”

“…Data on CVD incidence were available for analysis from 10 studies (2 case–control, [ 21 , 26 ] 2 cross-sectional, [ 19 , 25 ] and 6 retrospective cohort studies [ 20 , 22 – 24 , 27 , 28 ] ; Fig. 4 ).…”

Evidence‐based Counselling for Vasectomy

“…Several long‐term studies of vasectomised patients have produced no evidence of increased cardiovascular disease 72‐76 . Some studies have even shown that cardiovascular disease may indeed be less common in the vasectomised population 72,74,76 . It is difficult to reconcile the results of these studies with the observations of arterial disease in vasectomised animals fed on atherogenic diets.…”