Pattern of semen analysis of male partners of infertile couples at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the seminal patterns of the male partners of the infertile couples, towards identifying the possible contribution of the male factors to overall infertility problem in our environment.

METHODOLOGY: The study is a descriptive analysis of the seminal patterns of the partners of the infertile couples, who presented at the Fertility Research Unit (a WHO collaborating centre) of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, between 1st January 1990 and 31st December, 1999.

RESULTS: Result of the seminal analysis of 824 male partners of infertile couples were retrieved for the study, of which 598 (73%) were referred for secondary infertility. Overall, 225 (27.3%) of these subjects had abnormal semen analyses, with Asthenozoospermia being the most common (27.8%) of the disorders observed. Fifty-four (6.7%) subjects of the study population had Azoospermia. The most common multiple factors abnormality in the study population was Astheno/Oligozoospermia (25.5%), while three factors defect--Oligo/Astheno/Teratozoospermia was noticed in 106 (13.1%) of the subjects.

CONCLUSION: Abnormal semen quality remains a significant contribution to overall infertility in our environment and Asthenozoospermia is the most common seminal quality abnormality.