Potential unmet fertility needs among men cancer survivors: exploratory evidence from the National Survey of Family Growth.

PURPOSE: To investigate (1) sociodemographic variation in fertility care-seeking among men with a history of cancer at or before age 44, (2) whether sociodemographic inequalities among men with a history of cancer differ from men without a history of cancer, and (3) whether care-seeking differed among women and men with a history of cancer.

METHODS

This study uses five cycles of National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), a nationally representative survey of women and men in the USA. Multivariable logistic regression with and without interaction terms were employed.

RESULTS

Among men young cancer survivors (YCS), non-Hispanic white men were less likely to ever-seek fertility care than YCS men of color (odds ratio = 0.28, p < 0.10). Additionally, among YCS men, those with less than bachelor's degree had lower odds of ever-seeking fertility care relative to those with a bachelor's or higher (OR = 0.25, p < 0.10). Analyses with interaction terms showed that the associations between ever-seeking care and race/ethnicity were significantly different among men YCS than men without a history of cancer (OR = 0.20, p < 0.05), while associations with educational attainment did not differ significantly between these groups. Finally, the results showed women YCS had higher odds of ever-seeking fertility care than men YCS (OR = 3.20, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Fertility care-seeking among men YCS differs by race/ethnicity from the associations observed among men without a history of cancer. Meanwhile, associations between care-seeking and education and sex were similar to associations observed in populations without a history of cancer. Thus, there may be unmet need for fertility-care among men YCS.