The Impact of Sociodemographic Factors, Lifestyle, and Medical History on Semen Quality in Young Men

Background — The trend of declining male fertility worldwide has been a constant concern for the past several decades. Male infertility accounts for half of all infertility cases globally. Unfortunately, information regarding semen quality is inaccurate and contradictory. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the impact of sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, and medical history on semen quality in young men in western Iran. Methods — The study included 200 men under 40 years of age who underwent semen analysis at an andrology laboratory from October 2022 to August 2023. Along with results of semen analysis, demographic, clinical, and lifestyle data were collected, including BMI, smoking frequency per week, physical activity, income, place of residence, age, comorbidities, and education of the participants. Researchers used descriptive continuous variables, which were presented as mean and standard deviation; qualitative variables were presented as frequency (%). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Q-Q plot, and histogram were used to check the normality of the distribution. Correlation analysis was employed to study the correlation between the studied variables and semen quality. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software. Results — The mean age of the participants (±standard deviation) was 34.9±5.9 years (range: 23-52 years). Most participants were non-smokers (66.0%), urban residents (73.5%), had normal weight (46.97%), primary education (73.74%), low physical activity (72.5%), and low income (48.24%). The mean and 95% confidence interval for sperm count (in millions), concentration (in millions), morphology, and motility were 114.61 (104.28-125.184), 37.76 (35.13-40.36), 0.057 (0.052-0.062), and 0.47 (0.45-0.49), respectively. The results of this study show that various factors, such as age, physical activity, income, and smoking status, significantly affect sperm quality and quantity. Conclusion — This study emphasizes the importance of sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, occupational hazards, and medical history influencing male fertility. Therefore, to improve reproductive health, it is necessary to identify and promptly eliminate risk factors.