Spectrum of Semen Abnormalities and Their Updated Trends Using Machine Learning in District Sialkot, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To find out the prevalence and updated trends of semen abnormalities spectrum in District Sialkot of Pakistan.

Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 1^st October 2022 to 31^st November 2024, data of semen analysis total (n=5098) was collected from Dr. Abdul Sittar lab with written permission from their R&D department. All result reports having information of age, abstinence period more than 2 days and less than 10 days were including. Oligozoospermia, Severe Oligozoospermia, Azoospermia, Teratozoospermia, Sperm defects and Asthenozoospermia parameters were evaluated according to WHO guidelines. To find out the trends, linear regression was used by Jupyter Notebook of Anaconda Navigator 1.9.12 (Python).

Result: The prevalence of Oligozoospermia, severe oligozoospermia, azoospermia, and asthenozoospermia were observed in n=762(14.9%), n=116(2.2%), n=295(5.7%), and n=1598(31.3%) of cases, respectively. Teratozoospermia percentage was 35.82%, while the proportions of sperm head, mid-piece, and tail defects were 15.88%, 11.18%, and 8.85%, respectively. Higher proportions of azoospermia and asthenozoospermia were observed in the 26-30 year age group, with n=1175(48.3%) and n=1246(61.5%) respectively, whereas teratozoospermia was most frequent in the 41-45 year age group n= 84(20.9%). Regarding sperm motility grades, “Grade A” showed good motility in 55.7% and fair motility in 19.6% of samples. “Grade B” motility (poor) accounted for 15.7%, while “Grade C” motility (very poor) was observed in 0.6% of samples. Trend analysis revealed, significant increasing trends in oligozoospermia, teratozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, and Grade B motility. In contrast, decreasing trends were observed in Grade A motility, Grade C motility, and azoospermia.

Conclusion: The results demonstrate a concerning decline in semen quality parameters in the Sialkot District population during the study period. The statistically significant increasing trends are alarming and need urgent public health initiatives focused on male fertility in the region.