Significance of sperm characteristics in the evaluation of male infertility in a tertiary care centre

Background: Infertility is both a clinical and a public problem. Standard semen analysis is the surrogate measure of male fertility in clinical practiceto determine prevalence of low sperm count including oligozoospermia and azoospermia and to assess the pattern and distribution of abnormal semen parameters in infertile men.Methods: The retrospective study was conducted with compiling of the data from archival record over a period of three years from June 2013 to June 2016. A total of 933 male partners of women attending the fertility clinic of hospital between the ages of 20 and 50 years were recruited. The samples taken were primary infertility cases using simple random sampling 4 technique. Semen analysis was performed according to the standards outlined by the World Health Organization (5thedition 2010). Parameters outlined included: Appearance, Volume,pH, Sperm concentration, Motility, Morphology, Viability and White cell countResult: Out of 933 samples; normozoospermia was observed in 659(70.6%) males, oligozoospermia 170(18.2%), and azoospermia 104(11.1%). The azoospermic and oligozoospermic samples had low ejaculated volume, but significantly higher percentage of pus cells in comparison to normozoospermic samples. The oligozoospermic samples had higher percentage of immotile sperms and abnormal morphology in comparison to normozoospermic samples. Asthenozoospermia was observed in 118(14.2%), teratozoospermia in 24(2.9%), and oligoteratozoospermia in 11(1.3%) of samples.Conclusion: Majority of cases of infertility in males show normal sperm count. Oligozoospermia followed by azoospermia is seen in rest of the cases while less sperm motility or less amount of semen are also responsible in some cases.DOI:10.21276/APALM.1502