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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Determination of Reproductive Competence by Confirming Pubertal Onset and Performing a Fertility Assay in Mice and Rats
Published on: October 13, 2018
Smoking and female fecundity: the effect and importance of study design
Daniel J Wilks1, Alastair W M Hay
1Unit of Molecular Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Algernon Firth Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. danwilks@doctors.org.uk
Abstract:
This review evaluates the evidence for a link between smoking and female fertility. Twenty-two primary papers and two reviews were found. All but three indicated a detrimental effect of smoking on reproduction despite varying considerably in their approach, definitions used and populations studied. The strength of association is small but statistically significant and a dose response relationship suggests the theory that smoking is causative. Poor design in particular and the failure to assess confounders weakened many studies and should be addressed in future studies.
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