Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To identify the main causes of infertility among couples who visited a fertility center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
STUDY DESIGN: This was a descriptive study conducted at Faisal bin Mishal Center for Infertility, Buraidah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. All medical files of couples with infertility were reviewed.
RESULTS: Of the 500 couples included in this study, 353 (70.6%) and 147 (29.4%) had primary and secondary infertility, respectively. Infertility in 193 (38.6%) couples was caused by male factors only, while female factor was the only cause in 145 (29.0%) couples. Combined male and female infertility was identified in 43 (8.6%) couples. The cause of infertility was not identified in 119 (23.8%) couples. While anovulation (27.58%), tubal factor (42.75%), uterine factor (12.41%), and others/combined (2.75%) were the main factors identified as the causes of female infertility (145), azoospermia (36.78%), oligozoospermia (18.13%), asthenozoospermia (7.25%), teratosper- mia (5.69%), and mixed pathology (32.12%) were identified as the causes of male infertility (n=193). There was a significantly lower number of male factors among the couples with secondary infertility as compared to those with primary infertility (44/147 [29.93%] vs. 149/353 [42.20%], p =0.010).
CONCLUSION: The current study showed a high rate of primary infertility, and male factors of infertility were slightly higher as compared to female factors.