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The link between oral contraceptive pill (OCP) and depression is still unclear. This work analyses the prevalence and correlates of major depression in US women using OCP. This study used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2012 data to provide the prevalence and correlates of major depression in women using OCP. Major depression was defined as a score of ≥10 using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). A total of 6239 women aged 18–55 years were included in the present analysis. Current OCP users had a lower prevalence of major depression (4.6 %; 95 % CI, 3.2 to 6.6) compared to former users of OCP (11.4 %; 95 % CI, 10.1 to 12.9) and never users of OCP (10 %; 95 % CI, 8.3 to 12.1). Current users of OCP were significantly less likely to report major depression compared to former users of OCP (OR 0.59; 95CI%, 0.39 to 0.90) after adjusting for potential confounders. The prevalence of major depression was higher in women who were: black or Hispanic, widowed/divorced/separated, those with a low and middle income, current smokers, current users of antidepressants, and with history of cancer and thyroid problems. This is a cross-sectional study. The prevalence of major depression among women using OCP may be lower than in former users of OCP, however, the burden of depression remains high. Further research with longitudinal follow-up for depression in women using OCP is needed to understand real world effect of the OCP on depression. • Oral contraceptive pill and depression • Association of oral contraceptive pill with depression • Women taking oral contraceptive pill are less depressed than former users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the relationship between age and semen quality in Chinese men. Design: Population-based cross-sectional study. Setting: The Department of Reproductive Epidemiology and Social Science, Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, People’s Republic of China. Patient(s): Healthy 20- to 60-year-old men. Intervention(s): Standard World Health Organization procedures (3rd ed.) for semen analysis. Main Outcome Measure(s): Semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm number, progressive motility, vitality, and sperm morphology. Result(s): Statistical analysis results of 998 subjects showed that age was negatively correlated with progressive motility, vitality, and percentage of normal sperm. No declining trend was found between age and parameters semen volume, sperm concentration, or total sperm number. Rapidly progressive motility and percentage of normal sperm began to decrease slowly at age 30 years, and progressive motility began to decrease at age 40 years. Compared with the 20- to 29-year age group, the values of the latter three parameters showed significant differences in men aged ≥35, ≥45, and ≥40 years. Conclusion(s): Increasing age mainly influences sperm motility, vitality, and normal morphology, but these parameters have turning points at different ages. Because of the large sample size, this information can be used to provide standard values for Chinese men, particularly in the age range 30–50 years. Further research would enroll a large sample of healthy 40- to 70-year olds to examine declining semen parameters in these age groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objectives: Medical regimens using mifepristone in combination with prostaglandins have been widely available for women undergoing termination of pregnancy (TOP) at 10–16 weeks’ gestation in China. We undertook a systematic review to compare different regimens of mifepristone with prostaglandins for TOP at 10–16 weeks’ gestation. Methods: We searched multiple electronic databases for English and Chinese language reports (1990–2007) including MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database. Included were trials comparing mifepristone with prostaglandins (misoprostol, gemeprost or carboprost (PG05)) to each other for women at 10–16 weeks’ gestation. Outcomes were successful abortion rates, induction-to-expulsion time, blood loss and side effects. Data were processed with RevMan 5 software. Results: Nineteen trials comparing mifepristone with prostaglandin (misoprostol and PG05) were found of which 14 contributed to meta-analyses (4206 women). The quality of reports was poor. The effectiveness of vaginal mifepristone/misoprostol was super than mifepristone/PG05 (RR 1.14, 95%CI 1.05–1.22) as was induction-to-expulsion time, blood loss and side effects. When comparing misoprostol/mifepristone 150mg to misoprostol/mifepristone 200mg, no difference in TOP success rates were found (RR 0.98, 95%CI 0.96–1.01). Misoprostol vaginally compared to orally significantly increased the TOP success rate (RR 1.12, 95%CI 1.01–1.24). Gastrointestinal symptoms and fever occurred more often in misoprostol oral group (RR 1.67, 95%CI 1.46–1.91). Conclusions: Medical regimens of mifepristone/prostaglandins were effective and safe for TOP at 10–16 weeks’ gestation. Misoprostol was super than PG05, and misoprostol vaginally was found to have better effectiveness than misoprostol orally. Further research should evaluate the relative effectiveness of medical methods compared to surgery. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]