Effect of Time between Ejaculation and Analysis on Sperm Motility

Objective To evaluate the effect of time between ejaculation and analysis on sperm motility. Study design Observational study. Setting The Andrology Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital. Subjects Fifty-seven semen samples from patients attending the infertility clinic from August to October 2006. Intervention Semen samples were kept in a 37 o C incubator and were analyzed for sperm motility using the Computer-Aided Semen Analysis (CASA) at 30 minutes, 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours after ejaculation respectively. Main outcome measure Sperm motility. Results Mean (+SD) of sperm motility at 30 minutes, 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours were 53.1 +50.5, 42.1 +39.6, 29.1 +28.4, 24.6+22.5 and 19.9+16.3 %, respectively. Motility significantly decreased at 60 minutes after ejaculation (p u003c 0.017). Conclusion Sperm motility decreased when the time between ejaculation and analysis increased and significantly decreased at 60 minutes after ejaculation, approximately 20% changed.