(437) Post-Vasectomy Semen Analysis (PVSA) Compliance Rates and Associations

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Vasectomy is a highly effective, permanent method of contraception. Poor compliance rates have been observed for patients in obtaining their post-vasectomy semen analyses (PVSA). Few studies have looked at associations with low compliance. Objective The objective of our study was to identify compliance rates of post-vasectomy semen analysis and to identify associations that may increase or decrease the rates of compliance. Methods We studied 111 patients between November 2018 and April 2022 who underwent vasectomy at a single institution. Only patients who underwent vasectomy for fertility-related reasons were included in our final analysis. We excluded any patients who had undergone previous vasectomy or vasectomy reversal. Variables analyzed included age, relationship status, presence of primary care provider, anxiety diagnosis, and race. Variables were obtained via chart review which included but was not limited to reviewing notes, summary diagnostic pages, problem lists, and medication lists. All analyses were performed using R version 4.1.2 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). Categorical data were described with the number and percentage of patients. Continuous data were described with the median, minimum, and maximum. Associations of race and anxiety diagnosis with PVSA were explored using Fisher’s exact test. All p-values were two-sided at the 5% significance level without adjustment for multiple testing. Results Our cohort included 111 men who underwent vasectomy with exclusion of 1 patient who underwent vasectomy for non-fertility reasons. The median age of vasectomy was 38 years (range 26-59 years). Of 110 patients, 83 (75%) returned for PVSA. There were 103 (94%) married patients. Additional cohort characteristics can be seen in Table 1. As shown in Table 2, African American patients were less likely to return for PVSA than either white patients (14% vs. 79%, p<0.001) or Hispanic patients (14% vs. 100%, p=0.015). we did not find evidence of difference between white and Hispanic patients (p=0.58). Patients with an anxiety diagnosis were more likely to undergo PVSA compared to patients without an anxiety diagnosis (p<0.001). Conclusions Patients in our cohort of African American race were significantly less likely to undergo PVSA compared to white and Hispanic patients. This suggests an opportunity for improved counseling in the African American population. We do recognize a disparity in the number of white patients studied (n=95) versus African American (n=7) and Hispanic (n=5) patients. Additionally, patients with an anxiety disorder were more likely to undergo PVSA compared to patients without an anxiety disorder. The prevalence of anxiety disorder in our cohort is somewhat high relative to the overall population in the United States. This could be due to questionnaires used at our institution and the timeliness of those questionnaires. Personality traits could also lead to confounding in anxiety diagnoses. Overall, a 75% rate of PVSA speaks to an opportunity for better counseling regarding PVSA, especially in particular populations such as the African American population. Disclosure No