Materials and Methods
Men who presented to the urology outpatient clinic of the Medical Park
Antalya Hospital Complex between March 2018 and February 2021 due to
infertility were included in this study. Inclusion criteria were
inability to achieve pregnancy for more than 12 months despite regular
unprotected sexual intercourse2 and presenting to our
clinic with this complaint for the first time. Patients who presented
for follow-up and those with previous infertility treatment were
excluded from the study.
After a detailed history-taking and physical examination, semen samples
obtained in sterile tubes by masturbation after an average of 3 to 5
days of sexual abstinence were analyzed after liquefaction at 37°C for
30 minutes. A Makler counting chamber was used to determine spermatozoa
concentration and percentage of motile spermatozoa according to WHO 2010
criteria, and morphological evaluation was performed by light microscopy
according to Kruger criteria after staining.7 All
semen samples were evaluated by the same specialist. Patient age, semen
volume, and spermogram results were recorded. The patients were divided
by presentation date into pre-pandemic group 1 (March 2018 - February
2019), pre-pandemic group 2 (March 2019 - February 2020), and the
pandemic group (March 2020 - February 2021). The results were compared
between these groups.