Objective: To determine: [1] what percentage of men in an infertile relationship will have a semen abnormality, [2] the average value for each semen parameter in this group of men, [3] the distribution of abnormal semen parameters in this group, and [4] if our data support the hypothesis that sperm concentration is declining.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: County hospital university-based infertility clinic.
Patient(s): Male partners of women presenting for an infertility evaluation.
Intervention(s): Semen specimens were collected after 2-5 days of abstinence.
Main outcome measure(s): Sperm concentration, motility, and morphology.
Result(s): Fifty-two percent of samples had at least one sperm abnormality based on World Health Organization criteria. Fifty-one percent had an abnormality in sperm motility, 18% in sperm concentration, and 14% in sperm morphology. Four percent of the patients were azoospermic.
Conclusion(s): No decline in sperm density was revealed in semen collected by men presenting for an initial screening semen analysis.