Causes of infertility

Abstract EN

Background : infertility is found to be a major social and clinical problem, affecting 1 in 6 couples.

infertility should be diagnosed if a couple has tried natural, regular unprotected intercourse for twelve months without conceiving.

causes of infertility can be classified according to genders in which a male factor can be represented by sperm abnormalities while female factors may include anovulation, tubal pathology, in addition to combined female and male factors ; furthermore, unexplained infertility would be the cause if all factors are normal after investigations.

objective: to evaluate the most common causes of infertility from 2015-2016.

design : a retrospective study.

setting : assisted conception clinic (ACC), salmaniya medical complex, Bahrain.

method: four hundred forty-one Bahraini patients diagnosed with infertility between years of 2015-2016 were included in the study.

the data were documented from patients’ records using predesigned data collection forms.

Result : the mean duration of infertility was 5.02 years with a mean female age of 33.5 years.

secondary causes of infertility were found in 227 (51.5%) patients and primary causes in 214(48.5%).

female causes were found in 252 (57%) and males causes in 77 (17.5%) ; causes in both male and female were found in 20 (4.5%).

unexplained causes found in 92 (20.8%).

the major cause of females’ infertility was anovulation, which includes polycystic ovarian syndrome(PCOS), was found in 88 (20%), while endometriosis was the least common cause, 8 (1.8%).

seventy-three (16.5%) had abnormal sperm analysis.

one (0.2%) patient had abnormal karyotyping.

conclusion : the mean duration of infertility was 5.02 years with a mean female age of 33.5 years.

female causes were 252 (57%) ; anovulation was the main cause.

male causes were found in 77(17.5%).

secondary causes of infertility were found in 227 patients (51.5%) and primary causes in 214 (48.5%).