Pathophysiological Effects of Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption on Semen Parameters of Men Attending a Fertility Clinic in West Africa

Background: Alcohol and tobacco consumption are prevalent global habits. There is existing evidence linking these habits to male infertility, although the impact they have on male fertility and reproductive outcomes are yet to be exhaustively investigated. Aim: This study aimed to study the pathophysiological effects of alcohol and tobacco consumption on semen parameters of men attending a fertility clinic in West Africa. Materials and Methods: Semen samples were collected from 196 men who attend Medlink Clinic, Monrovia, Liberia and parameters including sperm volume, count, motility, and morphology were evaluated according to the WHO criteria. The Chi-square test (χ²) of the SPSS version 23 statistical software was used to test for hypotheses at a significance level of p<0.05. Results: The mean age of the men was 37.8±10.3 years. 20.9% of the study participants abstain from alcohol and tobacco, 38.8% consume alcohol, and 40.3% consume tobacco. Among the study participants, 36 (18.4%) had normospermia, 74 (37.8%) had oligospermia, 8 (4.1%) had cryptozoospermia, 5 (2.6%) had azoospermia, 58 (29.6%) had asthenozoospermia, and 15 (7.7%) had teratozoospermia. However, 78.9% frequent alcohol consumers, 47.4% non-frequent alcohol consumers, 77.8% non-alcohol consumers, 89.8% tobacco smokers, and 69.6% non-tobacco smokers had poor semen quality. The hypotheses tested proved that there is a significant relationship (p=0.024) between alcohol/tobacco consumption and poor semen quality, whereas there is no significant relationship (p=0.56) between non-consumption of alcohol/tobacco and good semen quality. There is also a significant relationship (p=0.0086) between alcohol consumption only and poor semen quality. Conclusion: Alcohol and tobacco consumption reduce male sperm quality, but abstinence from both does not guarantee optimum semen quality. Alcohol and/or tobacco consumption adversely affect the semen parameters (sperm volume, count, motility, and morphology).