Abstract
Male infertility is a major global concern, primarily linked to declining semen quality with age. In Pakistan, a limited dataset is published regarding the parametric assessment of semen among patients diagnosed with either primary or secondary infertility, notably in the urban population, such as that of Islamabad, the capital territory. This study aims to evaluate the contribution of total sperm count, motility and morphology to determine the cause of infertility among males in Islamabad. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at 4 different hospitals and laboratories across Islamabad from October 2025 to January 2026. A total of 150 infertile patients, with ages ranging from 18 to 54, were included in this study, and these patients were further divided into two groups: a younger group (18-32 years) and an older group (33-54 years). The total sperm count, motility, morphology, pH, liquefaction time and pus cells were analyzed against the WHO criterion with the use of SPSS version 25 by utilizing independent and one sample t-test in combination with Pearson correlation, and Chi-square analysis. The mean morphology (56.79% ± 18.86%) and mean sperm count (54.24 ± 7.6 million/mL), p value .035, were higher in comparison with the motility (27.14% ± 14.80%) and their respective reference limit as well. Out of 150 patients, 58% were found to be affected by asthenozoospermia, highlighting it as the major abnormality among the cohort. In the present study, asthenozoospermia is the main driver of infertility among the patients of Islamabad, with a significant decline in morphology and total sperm count with respect to advancing age. Our results identify younger males as a high-risk cohort for genital tract infections, linked to age-related oxidative and acidic shifts.
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