JBRA Assisted Reproduction 2025;29(Suppl.2 SBRA 2025):218
Poster Presentation
29^th Annual Congress of the SBRA. São Paulo/SP - Brazil, 2025
doi: 10.5935/1518-0557.20263865

P-206. Seminal Quality Over 23 Years: No Evidence of Decline or Impact from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Rogerio de Barros Ferreira Leão¹, Gabriela Parolin Trindade¹, Renzo Rivabene Andrade¹, Josiane Nascimento¹, Flavia Rocha Torelli¹, Lucia Costa-Paiva¹, Luiz Francisco Baccaro¹

¹ CAISM/ UNICAMP – Campinas - SP - Brasil

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the seminal quality among Brazilian men investigated for marital infertility over the past two decades and investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected seminal parameters.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of sperm counts between 01/01/2000 and 12/31/2023. The study population comprised male partners of couples evaluated at the University of Campinas outpatient clinic for marital infertility, defined as inability to achieve pregnancy after ≥12 months of regular, unprotected intercourse. All analyses were performed in the same laboratory by a consistent team of professionals to ensure accuracy. Only the first sample provided by each participant was included in this study. The dependent variables analyzed included sperm concentration (SC) (millions/ml) and the total number of progressively motile sperm (TPMS). The independent variable was defined as the period: pre-pandemic (up to March 10, 2020) and pandemic (after March 10, 2020). Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney test, and linear regression for median values. The study received approval from the Research Ethics Committee (protocol number: 59911516.5.0000.5404).
Results: Men with a history of surgical treatments for varicocele, vasectomy reversal, or samples collected for in vitro fertilization were excluded from the study. As a result, a total of 1,526 samples were included. The mean age of participants was 33.72 years (±6.32). We observed significantly higher mean sperm concentration (SC) (43.52 vs. 29.04 million/ml) and total progressively motile sperm (TPMS) (57.6 vs. 29.7 million) during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period (p<0.01 for both comparisons). The medians of both dependent variables also showed an increase over the period analyzed. SC rose from 22 million/ml in 2000 to 34.5 million/ml in 2023, while TPMS increased from 30.4 million in 2000 to 41 million in 2023. Linear regression analysis of median values confirmed a significant upward trend in SC (β=+0.77; p<0.01), indicating an annual increase of 0.78 million/ml, and in TPMS (β=+1.03; p<0.01), reflecting an annual increase of 1.04 million). Despite these statistically significant variations, no clinically significant changes in sperm concentration or total number of progressively motile sperm were observed. The study was conducted at a single tertiary hospital in Brazil, focusing on men undergoing investigation for marital infertility.
Conclusion: We found no evidence of decline in seminal quality over the past 23 years or any negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on seminal parameters. These findings may offer reassurance against the likelihood of an impending epidemic of male-factor infertility in the future. However, the lack of clinical or sociodemographic data, such as personal habits or SARSCoV-2 serology limits interpretation. Therefore, further studies should be conducted for a more comprehensive assessment of male fertility in the Brazilian population.