Abstract
BackgroundInfertility is a big health problem worldwide. Few data exist on infertility in Sudan.MethodsA descriptive study was conducted to assess the pattern and the causes of infertility among couples (800) attending the University of Khartoum Fertility Centre, Saad Abualila Teaching Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan. The data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients, the type of infertility whether primary or secondary and the causes of infertility were extracted from the medical files retrospectively.ResultsThe mean (SD) age of the females was 32.4 (7.4) years while that of the males was 37.5 (7.2) years. The mean (SD) duration of infertility was 4.9(3.9) years. Five hundred and fifty one (68.9%) couples had primary infertility, while the remainder 249(31.1%) had secondary infertility. Two hundred and eighty four (35.5%) couples had male infertility, 342(42.8%) couples had female infertility. One hundred and forty seven (18.4%) couples had combined male and female infertility and in 27 (3.4%) couples the cause of infertility was not identified. Factors identified in the female infertility (342) were; anovulation (178, 52.05%), tubal factor (142, 41.52%), uterine factor (7, 2.05%) and other/combined (7, 2.05%). Azoospermia (75, 26.41%), oligozoospermia (45, 15.85%), asthenozoospermia (51, 17.96%), teratospermia (15, 5.28%) and mixed pathology (101, 35.56%) were the causes of the male infertility (n = 284). Female factors of infertility were observed more frequently among couples with secondary infertility compared with primary infertility (143/551(57.4) vs. 199/249(36.1), P < 0.001.ConclusionThe current study showed a high rate of primary infertility and female factor predominates compared with male factors. Future research direction should focus on the reasons why majority of clients seek this service very late.
Highlights
Infertility is a big health problem worldwide
World Health Organization (WHO) defines infertility as “a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse” [2]
Factors identified in the female infertility (342) were; anovulation (178, 52.05%), tubal factor (142, 41.52%), uterine factor (7, 2.05%) and other/combined (7, 2.05%), Table 1
Summary
Infertility is a big health problem worldwide. Few data exist on infertility in Sudan. World Health Organization (WHO) defines infertility as “a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse” [2]. The WHO’s epidemiologic definition of infertility as “women of reproductive age at risk of becoming pregnant who report unsuccessfully trying for a pregnancy for more than two years” [3]. Different causes and types of infertility were reported in the different African countries [4,5,6,7]. Investigating the types and causes of infertility is highly needed to generate data important for planning and interventions. While there is much data of infertility in high-income countries as well as in other
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