Response to “concerns regarding the association of occupational testicular radiation exposure with offspring sex ratio”

Le résumé fourni par la source

Dear Editor, We thank Yamaguchi and Jamil for their careful reading of our article (Hijikata et al. 2025a), which examined the association between occupational testicular radiation exposure among spine surgeons and the sex ratio of their offspring and for their thoughtful methodological and radiation protection perspectives. In our study, exposure was defined according to the type of personal protective equipment (PPE) used during the conception period; specifically, coat-type protectors covering the testes versus apron-type protectors not covering the testes. We observed a higher proportion of female offspring in the apron group than in the coat group. Yamaguchi and Jamil suggested that the observed association may be driven primarily by a lower proportion of female births in the control group rather than by an excess in the exposed group. They further raised concerns about potential selection bias and reverse causation, proposing that fathers who already have daughters may be more likely to adopt coat-type protectors, as well as differential recall, whereby fathers of daughters may report prior protective practices differently.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.