Male Pattern Infertility in a Referral Hospital, Southern Nigeria

Aim: To evaluate the pattern of seminal fluid parameters (sperm concentration, motility and morphology) observed on seminal fluid analysis.

Study Design: A Retrospective study.

Place and Duration of Study: The Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers state, Nigeria over a five year period between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2015.

Methodology: Retrospective review of seminal fluid analysis. Data collated include sperm concentration, motility and morphology as well as age. No contact with patients was necessary. Seminal fluid analysis was carried out using 2010 WHO recommended criteria. Data was presented using measures of central tendency and analysed using the epi info v7 software at a 95% confidence interval and P value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: A total of 223 semen samples analysed during the period under review. 39% (87) and 1.8% (4) had oligozoospermia and azoospermia respectively, 87.4% (195) had varying degrees of morphologic abnormality of their sperm cells and 40.8% (91) had ≤40% progressive motility. 85.7% (78) men who had ≤40% motility also had structural abnormalities of their spermatozoa, implying poor seminal fluid quality

Conclusion: Male factor infertility may contribute significantly to the number of infertile couples diagnosed in Southern Nigeria. The impact on younger men is huge. We therefore encourage more studies to better evaluate associated/ causative factors including the impact of environmental factors (in the light of recent changes in the ecosystem) with a view to reducing its incidence.