Association between the prevalence rates of circadian syndrome and infertility in US females: data from NHANES (2013–2018)

Abstract Objectives To investigate the relationship between the prevalence of circadian syndrome (CircS) and infertility. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 14,948 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2013–2018). Information on infertility, CircS, age, education level, marital status, age at menarche, use of female hormones, poverty-income ratio (PIR), body mass index (BMI), drinking status, smoking status, use of birth control pills, pelvic infections, and race was collected from all participants. Logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between CircS prevalence and infertility. Interaction and stratified analyses were conducted according to age, PIR, age at menarche, drinking status, and smoking status. Results In total, 2282 participants were included, and the prevalence of infertility was 16.4% (374/2282). The prevalence of infertility was also significantly higher in the CircS group than in the non-CircS group ( P < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression in the fully adjusted model showed that the prevalence of infertility was considerably higher in those with CircS than in those without CircS (odds ratios = 2.88, 95% confidence interval 2.16–3.86). In addition, the results of subgroup and stratified analyses were robust. Conclusions Our findings indicate that CircS is significantly associated with the likelihood of infertility, independent of confounding factors. These results highlight the importance of further investigation into the mechanisms underlying this association.