ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Reprod. Health
Sec. Reproductive Epidemiology
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frph.2025.1608996
Correlation Between Circadian Syndrome and Female Infertility: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, China
- 2Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
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The association between circadian syndrome (CircS) and female infertility remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between CircS and infertility in women of reproductive age.Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we included 1,323 women aged 18-47 years. Weighted multivariable logistic regression models were employed to analyze the association between CircS and infertility, adjusting for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle variables, and reproductive health-related confounders. Subgroup analyses and propensity score matching (PSM) were conducted to validate the robustness of the findings.The prevalence of infertility was significantly higher in the CircS group (22.18%) compared to the non-CircS group (11.08%). After adjusting for confounders, CircS was associated with a 98% increased risk of infertility (OR = 1.98, 95% CI:1.14-3.44). Specific CircS components further elevated infertility risk: increased waist circumference (OR = 1.82), short sleep duration (OR = 1.73). Subgroup analyses revealed stronger associations among women aged 18-30 years, non-Hispanic Black individuals, and married participants. Sensitivity analyses with PSM confirmed the robustness of the association (OR = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.33-7.25).Circadian syndrome is positively associated with female infertility, with its core metabolic and behavioral phenotypes-elevated blood pressure, abdominal obesity, insufficient sleep, and depression-exacerbating infertility risk. However, given the cross-sectional design of the study, the directionality of the observed associations cannot be established, and further longitudinal research is needed to explore causal relationships.
Keywords: ：Infertility, Circadian Syndrome (CircS), NHANES, Cross-sectional study, Reproductive age
Received: 11 Apr 2025; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Liu, Fu, Wang, Du and Meng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yu-Han Meng, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, China
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