Abstract
Background: Several lifestyle factors have been proven to have a significant impact on male fertility; however, the effects of geographic location, such as continuous living at high altitudes, on fertility in the male population of India have not yet been identified. The purpose of this study is to ascertain how lifestyle variables coupled with altitude impacts the quantity and quality of sperm in male Indian inhabitants who have been long term residents from the northeastern region of India, specifically hailing from North Bengal and the surrounding areas.
Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 243 male participants were divided into two groups: the High-altitude group (HAG, n=105) and the Low-altitude group (LAG, n=138). Participants' demographic information was gathered using a set questionnaire, the laboratory semen analysis was done in compliance with WHO-2021 recommendations. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0 from SPSS Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Results: On semen analysis, HAG showed significant negative correlation on all parameters. The analytical findings indicated that 11.9% of the total patients had oligozoospermia, of which 19.8% belonged to the HAG and 6.16% to the LAG. Among lifestyle variables, increase in BMI and age showed a significant difference on the overall parameters (p<.05), smoking showed a negative impact on all parameters (p<.01) with a strongly negative corelation with sperm count, motility and progressiveness, and alcohol and occupation had no significant difference only on the sperm volume (p>.05), with urbanization showing no significant difference on all parameters (p>.05).
Conclusions: Sperm count, motility, and progressiveness have all been found to be severely negatively impacted by high altitude, whereas sperm volume has been found to be less negatively impacted. Additionally, it was shown that the three lifestyle factors that had the greatest detrimental effects on sperm quality were smoking, obesity, and advancing age, followed by sedentary employment and alcohol use, while urbanization had no discernible effect.
Keywords: altitude, male fertility, semen analysis.
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Corresponding Author
Anindita Kundu
Embryologist, Newlife Fertility Centre, Siliguri, West Bengal
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v12i11.04
