Semen profile of male partners of women attending infertility clinic in Zaria, Nigeria

Background: Semen analysis is an important investigation in the evaluation of male factor infertility. Diminishing semen profile has been widely reported mostly attributed to the environmental factor and lifestyle changes.Methodology: A cross‑sectional study of 154 male partners of women attending infertility clinic at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. The study was done between January and October 2011. The data were collected using questionnaires, semen analyses, semen cultures, and body mass index (BMI).Results: The semen analyses done showed normozoospermia rate of 46.8% while 53.2% had abnormal semen profile. In this study, only 3.9% of the participants’ semen that had significant round cells also cultured bacteria. There was no significant statistical association between the round cells count and bacteria culture. Bacteria growth was mainly staphylococcus aureus. There was also a significant statistical association between abnormal semen profile and the risk factors in male infertility, medication use, coital frequency per week, and positive semen culture for bacterial growth.Conclusions: Proportion of participants with abnormal semen profile was high in this study. Significant round cell count did not translate to infected semen. There should be properly coordinated and heightened health education program on awareness and prevention of male infertility.Keywords: Male infertility; round cells; semen analysis; semen cultur