Comparison of study participants' basic demographic and clinical parameters between those couples that conceived within 1 year and those that did not
| Parameter | Overall | Conception within 1 year | P value | ||
| Yes (n=61) | No (n=39) | ||||
| Coital frequency at recruitment | ≥2 per week | 24 (24) | 14 (23.0) | 10 (25.6) | 0.824 |
| 1 per week | 36 (36) | 23 (37.7) | 13 (33.3) | ||
| 1–3 per month | 35 (35) | 20 (32.8) | 15 (38.5) | ||
| <1 per month | 5 (5) | 4 (6.6) | 1 (2.6) | ||
| Coital frequency at last follow-up | ≥2 per week | 41 (41) | 27 (44.3) | 14 (35.9) | 0.240 |
| 1 per week | 36 (36) | 18 (29.5) | 18 (46.2) | ||
| 1–3 per month | 23 (23) | 16 (26.2) | 7 (17.9) | ||
| <1 per month | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ||
| Females | |||||
| Age (years) | 31.8 (29.7–34.1) | 31.1 (29.2–33.3) | 33.1 (30.5–35.0) | 0.008* | |
| Education level | Secondary | 12 (12) | 6 (9.8) | 6 (15.4) | 0.530 |
| Tertiary or above | 88 (88) | 55 (90.2) | 33 (84.6) | ||
| Smoking | Never | 96 (96) | 59 (96.7) | 37 (94.9) | 0.731 |
| Quitted | 3 (3) | 1 (1.6) | 2 (5.1) | ||
| Current | 1 (1) | 1 (1.6) | 0 (0) | ||
| Alcohol | Non-drinker | 32 (32) | 18 (56.3) | 14 (35.9) | 0.607 |
| Social drinker | 64 (64) | 41 (64.1) | 23 (59.0) | ||
| Drinker | 4 (4) | 2 (3.3) | 2 (5.1) | ||
| BMI (kg/m2) | <25 | 92 (92) | 56 | 36 (92.3) | 1.000 |
| ≥25 and <30 | 6 (6) | 4 | 2 (5.1) | ||
| ≥30 | 2 (2) | 1 | 1 (2.6) | ||
| AMH level (ng/mL) | 3.4 (1.8–5.5) | 4.0 (2.4–6.0) | 3.2 (1.5–3.9) | 0.038* | |
| HbA1c (%) | 5.2 (5.0–5.4) | 5.2 (5.1–5.4) | 5.1 (5.0–5.4) | 0.725 | |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 4.5 (3.9–5.1) | 4.3 (3.8–5.1) | 4.6 (4.2–5.0) | 0.145 | |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 0.8 (0.6–1.1) | 0.8 (0.6–1.1) | 0.9 (0.6–1.1) | 0.809 | |
| HDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.6 (1.4–1.9) | 1.6 (1.3–1.8) | 1.7 (1.5–1.9) | 0.046* | |
| LDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 2.3 (2.0–2.7) | 2.2 (1.9–2.7) | 2.4 (2.1–2.9) | 0.299 | |
| Perceived Stress Scale score | 17 (14–19) | 17 (14–20) | 17 (14–19) | 0.766 | |
| MET (min/week) | 1386 (742–3514) | 1533 (792–3072) | 1067 (692–3690) | 0.496 | |
| Males | |||||
| Age (years) | 33.5 (30.3–35.9) | 33.0 (29.3–35.4) | 34.5 (31.8–37.2) | 0.064 | |
| Education level | Secondary | 15 (15) | 7 (11.5) | 8 (20.5) | 0.257 |
| Tertiary or above | 85 (85) | 54 (88.5) | 31 (79.5) | ||
| Smoking | Never | 76 (76) | 44 (72.1) | 32 (82.1) | 0.532 |
| Quitted | 14 (14) | 10 (16.4) | 4 (10.3) | ||
| Current | 10 (10) | 7 (11.5) | 3 (7.7) | ||
| Alcohol | Non-drinker | 15 (15) | 10 (16.4) | 5 (12.8) | 0.942 |
| Social drinker | 74 (74) | 44 (72.1) | 30 (76.9) | ||
| Drinker | 11 (11) | 7 (11.5) | 4 (10.3) | ||
| BMI (kg/m2) | <25 | 59 (59) | 39 (63.9) | 20 (51.3) | 0.443 |
| ≥25 and <30 | 34 (34) | 18 (29.5) | 16 (410) | ||
| ≥30 | 7 (7) | 4 (6.6) | 3 (7.7) | ||
| HbA1c (%) | 5.4 (5.2–5.5) | 5.4 (5.2–5.5) | 5.4 (5.1–5.7) | 0.756 | |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 4.6 (4.1–5.3) | 4.7 (4.3–5.2) | 4.5 (4.0–5.7) | 0.454 | |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.4 (1.1–2.1) | 1.6 (1.2–2.1) | 1.3 (1.1–2.1) | 0.613 | |
| HDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.3 (1.1–1.4) | 1.2 (1.1–1.4) | 1.3 (1.2–1.5) | 0.039* | |
| LDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 2.7 (2.1–3.2) | 2.8 (2.3–3.2) | 2.3 (1.9–3.3) | 0.165 | |
| Sperm concentration (million/mL) | 72.6 (36.6–121.8) | 84.7 (36.2–144.5) | 59.9 (41.8–96.0) | 0.054 | |
| Sperm progressive motility (%) | 45 (38–50) | 46 (38–52) | 43 (37–48) | 0.162 | |
| Sperm morphology (%) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–6) | 4 (2–5) | 0.219 | |
| Total motile sperm count (million) | 102.5 (49.6–200.4) | 128.0 (62.8–245.3) | 66.6 (36.4–186.3) | 0.030* | |
| TMNC (million) | 4.3 (1.6–8.3) | 5.1 (1.9–12.0) | 2.8 (1.4–5.5) | 0.015* | |
| Perceived Stress Scale score | 16 (14–19) | 16 (14–18) | 16 (13–19) | 0.977 | |
| MET (min/week) | 1939 (1059–4119) | 1739 (955–3687) | 2388 (1386–6360) | 0.247 | |
Categorical variables are presented as n (%) while continuous variables are presented as median (25th–75th percentile).
Fisher’s exact test and Mann–Whitney U-test were used to compare categorical and continuous variables between groups, respectively.
*Statistically significant.
AMH, anti-Müllerian hormone; BMI, body mass index; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; MET, metabolic equivalent task; TMNC, total motile normal morphology sperm count.