Associations between Body Mass Index and Semen Parameters among Men from the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area

1.PURPOSE: Infertility affects an estimated 15 percent of couples worldwide, and male factor infertility accounts for approximately 40 to 50 percent of infertility cases. Obesity affects more than a third of adults in the U.S.; African-Americans have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity, followed by Hispanics. There is mounting evidence that male obesity may play a role in reducing fertility and embryo health. Semen parameters are the most commonly used biological indicators of male fecundity. U.S. studies examining obesity and semen parameters have reported inconsistent results, often finding an inverse association with increased Body Mass Index (BMI) and some, but not all, parameters. In most male reproductive health studies, African-American and Hispanic men have been largely underrepresented. This descriptive analysis summarizes the semen parameters of 114 men from the Greater Washington, D.C. area receiving treatment at the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associations. Participants were recruited among the men seeking treatment from the Assisted Reproduction, Endocrinology, or Adult Medicine Clinics. It provides an exploratory look at sperm health among DC area men and examines associations between sperm health and BMI. 2. METHODS:Analysis was conducted on self-reported demographic, lifestyle and environmental data collected from two questionnaires. BMI was self-reported and categorized as underweight and normal ( RESULTS:Preliminary results show that mean age of the study population was 41 years old, and the racial distribution was: 46.4% Caucasian, 25.5% African-American, 12.7% Hispanic, and 15.4% Other. Overweight men constituted 41.3% of the population, while obese men constituted 42.2%. Mean sperm motility for African-American men was significantly lower compared to Caucasian and Hispanic men (ptrend 4. CONCLUSION: These early data indicate that there were a few statistically significant differences in some semen parameters in this population when examining them by race and BMI. Future analyses will examine parameters categorically and incorporate multiple regression models to control for potential confounders