Background. It is estimated that 10-15% of all couples have experience
d an infertility problem. The objective of this study was to evaluate
the effect of occupation on the time interval between when a couple st
arts unprotected intercourse and a clinically recognizable pregnancy,
time to pregnancy (TTP). Methods. Data from 622 women who successfully
delivered in the week preceding the interview were analysed using the
Cox proportional hazards regression. Thirty independent variables wer
e included in the full model. Results. Eleven per cent of women had to
wait more than one year before conceiving (mean TTP = 6.7 months). Th
e regression analysis showed that the most important determinants of T
TP are the age of the woman (rate ratio = 0.44 for age 35+) and her pa
rity (rate ratio = 1.39). TTP also increased significantly with matern
al smoking (rate ratio = 0.77), and decreased with coital frequency (r
ate ratio = 1.24 for greater than or equal to 6 per month) and consump
tion of coffee (rate ratio = 1.29). None of the female occupational ex
posures has been found to have an independent statistically significan
t effect, while male occupation in industry and exposure to welding fu
mes were associated with an increase of TTP (rate ratio = 0.73 and 0.7
8, respectively). Conclusions. Female occupational exposures seem to h
ave only a small effect on TTP compared with biological and lifestyle
factors. The present data also suggest that work-related factors may h
ave a bigger influence on male fecundity.