The effects of male age on semen parameters: analysis of 1364 men attending an andrology center

Figures & data

Table I.  Demographics and semen characteristics.

	≤ to 30 years (Group 1)	31 to 40 years (Group 2)	≥ to 40 years (Group 3)	p*
Number of individuals	400	730	234
Age (years)	26.02 ± 3.6^a	34.77 ± 2.4	43.72 ± 4.19
	(17–30)^b	(31–39)^b	(40–59)^b
Abstinence (days)	4.0 ± 0.98	4.0 ± 0.90	4.0 ± 0.91	>0.5
	(2–6)	(2–6)	[2–6]
Volume, ml	3.3 ± 1.6	3.08 ± 1.4	2.77 ± 1.4	1 vs. 3: <0.001
	(0.5–11)	(0.2–9.0)	(0.2–8)	2 vs. 3: <0.05
	2.0–4.2^c	2.0–4.0	1.8–3.5
Rapid progressive motility (a), %	10.58 ± 12.2	8.23 ± 10.9	7.9 ± 11.20	1 vs. 2: <0.01
	(0–65)	(0–68)	(0–57)	1 vs. 3: <0.05
	0–19	0–14	0–13
Total progressive motility (a + b), %	45.40 ± 19.47	42.77 ± 18.79	38.91 ± 18.99	1 vs. 2: <0.05
	(0–95)	(0–85)	(0–85)	1 vs. 3: <0.001
	34–59	30–57	23.35–54
Concentration, 1 × 10^6 sperm/ml	76.02 ± 64.86	68.24 ± 62.09	59.72 ± 58.64	1 vs. 3: <0.01
	(0.001–320)	(0.1–430)	(0.5–386)
	22–115	23.5–94	17–81.50
Total sperm count Sperm/ejaculate	231.5 ± 216.4	199.8 ± 193.5	145.8 ± 132.7	1 vs. 2: <0.05
	(0.005–1400)	(0.54–1276)	(1.2–663)	1 vs. 3: <0.001
	64.60–330	60.80–269.4	39–223.6	2 vs. 3: <0.001

*p > 0.05 in comparisons not included.

Values are represented as ^amean ± SD and ^brange in brackets and ^c25–75% percentiles.

There were no statistically significant differences in abstinence between the groups.

Figure 1.  Correlations between sperm parameters and age. To evaluate the effect of age on sperm parameters, Spearman correlations and linear regression were performed. A negative correlation was found between sperm parameters and age in all groups.