P-39: The Effect of Professional, Environmental and Geographical Factors on Male Infertility

Background: Infertility with the prevalence of 15% is one of the main problems of the society. Preventing job injuries is one of the priorities of public health. Approximately 50% of total cases of infertility and subfertility is related to male. Some of the factors that affect male infertility are environmental. It is very difficult to ascertain the precise cause, but it seems that apart from genetic factors, environmental factors including environmental contaminants, cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug can have serious effects on infertility and subfertility. Environmental factors and job exposure have an undeniable effect on male infertility, but our knowledge about this subject is poor and controversial. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on infertile men referring to the Paymaniyeh Clinic in Jahrom. Selecting samples was based on census. Data was collected by a questionnaire and was analyzed for frequency, mean, and standard deviation by SPSS11.5. Results: Mean age of the infertile men was 32.67 ± 6.19 and the age range was 20 to 67 years old. Of the participants, 78.7% were rural and 21.3% were urban, among whom 37 cases (23.1%) were addicts. The result of spermogram showed that 91.5% of cases were normal. 10.6% of the men had experienced the varicocele surgery and 8.1% had used drugs. Most of the infertile men (55.6%) were workers; 21.6%, were farmers; 14.4% clerks;6.8%, drivers;8.6%, mechanics and welders; 4.9%, shop assistants and 2.5% were builders. Conclusion: Environmental factors can be effective on male infertility and these factors may vary in different areas, hence the great importance of assessing the effects of these factors. According to these findings, most of the infertile men were rural and workers, leading to the conclusion that workers seem to be more prone to infertility due to the effect of the heavy job on the quality of the sperm.