A 5-Year Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study of the Pattern of Infertility in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria

Background: Infertility is a major cause of marital disharmony in the word most especially in our environment because of the high value system placed on child bearing. Infertility is one of the commonest reason couples presents to a doctor especially the gynecologist. Objectives: This study is to determine the prevalence of infertility, causes, contributions of male and female factors in infertility, and to make recommendations on the management of infertility in NAUTH, Nnewi, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study that reviewed all the cases of infertility managed at Nnamdi AzikiweUniversity Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi between 1st January 2017 and 31st Dec, 2021. The case notes of all the patients managed for infertility was obtained from the medical records department of the hospital. A structured proforma was used to collect the socio-demographic and clinical data of the subjects to be reviewed and analyzed. Ethical clearance and approval was sought for and obtained from the ethical committee of the teaching hospital. The data was analyzed using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results: The infertility prevalence rate of 26.8% was observed. Secondary infertility (55%) was the predominant type of infertility within the study population while the remaining (45%) had primary infertility. Tubal pathology (65%) was the most common cause of infertility identified during this study. Male factor alone contributed 100(11.7%) of the infertility cases, a combination of male and female factors were identified in 325(38%) of couples, female factor alone contributed 388(45.3%) of the cases. However, the cause of infertility was unexplained in 43(5%) of the couples that were studied during the period of this study. Conclusion: Infertility is a common presentation in the gynaecological clinics and the secondary type is predominant in this environment and has been linked to post-infectious causes. Thus, High premium should be placed on primary prevention of the various risk factors that predispose couples to this burden of infertility.