Prevalence and Patterns of Male Infertility in Massawa Hospital; Eritrea: CrossSectional Study; 2020

Background: Semen analysis is the first step to identify male factor infertility. World Health Organization estimates that male factor accounts for 50% of couple sub-fertility. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and patterns of the male factor infertility in patients visiting Massawa Hospital with infertility complaints. Methods: Patient’s medical records and hospital laboratory register were used to retrieve semen analysis results of patients who did from June 2018 to June 2020 in Massawa Hospital. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ministry of Health Research and Ethical Review Committee. Confidentiality of patient’s records was kept secured and data was analyzed as aggregates. Results were presented in frequency, tables and p value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 112 patient’s data were analyzed with 49.1% aged between 20 to 30 years. The prevalence of male factor infertility in these patients was found to be 42% and 79.5% of them had a primary type of infertility. Of the analyzed data; 63 (56.3%), 72 (64.3%) and 70 (62.5%) had sperm count < 15million sperms/ml, sperm motility < 40 % and morphology of < 60% respectively. Fifteen (13.4%) patients had a semen volume of < 1.5ml/ejaculate, out of which 13(86.7%) had a primary type of infertility. Moreover; 72 (64.3%) patients had a total sperm count/ejaculate of < 39 million and 59 (82%) of these had a primary type of infertility. In addition; 50.8% and 50% of patients aged 20 to 30 years had a sperm count < 15 million/ml and sperm motility of < 40% respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of male factor infertility was almost similar to other studies and primary infertility was common in the patients. Most patients had lower sperm count and sperm motility compared to other studies. And, majority of patients with abnormal sperm results were aged between 20 to 30 years. Further prospective research to determine the risk factors and prevalence of infertility, and introducing assisted reproductive technology in Eritrea are highly recommended.