Dynamics of ejaculate parameters from 2017 to 2023: a retrospective single-center analysis

Abstract

Introduction: One of the most important tests to evaluate male fertility is a semen analysis. Assessment of ejaculate parameters allows to assume possible causes of male infertility and helps to determine further treatment. According to modern literature there is a slight but constant deterioration of ejaculate parameters with time.Purpose of the study: to evaluate semen analysis parameters in patients examined in one medical center.Materials and Methods: retrospective evaluation of semen analyses performed in the same laboratory from January 1, 2017 to October 31, 2023 was performed with a total of 47902 patients included. The ejaculate volume, concentration and number of spermatozoa, the proportion of spermatozoa of different categories of motility, sand the proportion of morphologically normal spermatozoa were evaluated. Statistical processing of data was performed using MS Office and SPSS v26 software packages.Results: the mean semen volume from 2017 to 2023 was 3.5 ± 1.5 mL, sperm concentration was 51.9 ± 39.3 million/mL, progressively motile spermatozoa was 48.2 ± 16.5%, number of progressively motile spermatozoa in the sample was 93.7 ± 94.3 million, motile spermatozoa 55.6 ± 17.4%, total motile spermatozoa was 107.5 ± 105.6 million, mean number of morphologically normal forms was 2.8 ± 1.4% in 2017, 2.2 ± 0.9% in 2023, and 3.5 ± 1.5% during the observation period. Mean pH of ejaculate was 7.6 ± 0.3 with noted tendency to increase (7.38 ± 0.33 in 2017, 7.6 ± 0.38 in 2023). The proportion of samples with azoospermia increased from 2.8% in 2017 to 4.5% in 2023. Mean number of patients with cryptozoospermia was 1.5%.Conclusion: there is a trend of decreasing proportion of morphologically normal spermatozoa, increasing ejaculate pH and increasing frequency of azoospermia from 2017 to 2023.