Association between pesticide exposure and infertility of couple in the Boucle du Mouhoun region: A case-control study

Introduction: Several pesticides act as endocrine disrupting chemicals. Our objective was to study the relation between pesticide exposure and infertility in couples in the Boucle du Mouhoun region.Patients and methods: We implemented a case-control study with recruitment of hospitals cases and a retro-spective collection of data from the registers, supplemented by a face-to-face-administered questionnaire. The sample size was calculated at 35 cases 70 controls. The dependent variable was the infertility (primary or sec-ondary). The main independent variable was the exposure (direct or indirect) to pesticides. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses with random effect were implemented and the statistical signifi-cance level was 5%.Results: The women controls had a better knowledge of pesticides (81.43% versus 45.71%) and were less exposed both directly (4.29%) versus 14.29%) and indirectly (34.29% versus 51.43%) Exposure to pesticides was noted in 48.57% of male cases against 62.86% of male controls. In the bivariate analysis, direct exposure to pesticides led to 3.72 (95%CI: 0,81-17,05) times more risk for infertility as compared to non-exposure. At the multivariate analysis, the adjusted odds ratio (ORA) of direct exposure versus non-exposure was 5 (95%CI: 0.87-28.92); and indirect exposure versus non-exposure had an ORA of 2.85 (95%CI: 1.01-8.04), Conclusion: In the Boucle du Mouhoun region, couples experiencing infertility knew less about pesticides and were more exposed to them than couples who had no childbearing difficulties. Pesticides were a risk factor for the couple's infertility both in direct and indirect exposure.