Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Reprod. Health
Sec. Andrology
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frph.2025.1520938
This article is part of the Research Topic The Relationship Between Lifestyle and Male Fertility View all 3 articles

MODIFIABLE LIFE STYLE FACTORS AND MALE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN IVF CLINIC ATTENDEES IN GHANA

Provisionally accepted
Brodrick Yeboah Amoah Brodrick Yeboah Amoah 1*Cosmos Gborsong Cosmos Gborsong 2Saliah Yao Bayamina Saliah Yao Bayamina 1Hubert Owusu Hubert Owusu 2George Awuku Asare George Awuku Asare 1*Emmanuel Kwabena Yeboah Emmanuel Kwabena Yeboah 3*Georgina Hammond Georgina Hammond 4*Josephine Padikie Ablakwa Josephine Padikie Ablakwa 1*
  • 1 University of Ghana, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana
  • 2 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
  • 3 Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
  • 4 Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention, LMU Munich University Hospital, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Male infertility is a significant global public health issue, with modifiable lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity, and psychological stress contributing to impaired semen quality and hormonal dysregulation. This study investigates the relationships between modifiable lifestyle factors, reproductive hormones, and semen quality in Ghanaian males attending an IVF clinic.A cross-sectional study was conducted with 212 male participants recruited from a fertility clinic in Ghana. Lifestyle factors were assessed using standardized questionnaires, and semen samples were analyzed following WHO guidelines. Hormonal profiles (LH, FSH, testosterone, estradiol) were measured using the enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA). Statistical analyses included Pearson's product-moment correlation and Bonferroni correction.Smoking and psychological stress were significantly associated with reduced sperm motility, viability, and concentration (p < 0.05). Elevated BMI correlated negatively with sperm concentration and testosterone levels (p < 0.05). Alcoholic bitters was linked to decreased semen quality, while caffeine consumption showed a positive association with progressive sperm motility.Modifiable lifestyle factors, such as smoking, psychological stress, and increased body mass index (BMI), play a crucial role in male reproductive health by adversely affecting semen parameters and hormonal balance. These findings emphasize the need for public health interventions targeting modifiable behaviors to improve fertility outcomes.

    Keywords: Semen quality, lifestyle factors, male infertility, reproductive hormones, IVF, Ghana, Sperm Motility, Ghanaian men

    Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Amoah, Gborsong, Yao Bayamina, Owusu, Asare, Yeboah, Hammond and Ablakwa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Brodrick Yeboah Amoah, University of Ghana, Accra, 00233, Greater Accra, Ghana
    George Awuku Asare, University of Ghana, Accra, 00233, Greater Accra, Ghana
    Emmanuel Kwabena Yeboah, Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, 3000, Australia
    Georgina Hammond, Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention, LMU Munich University Hospital, Munich, 81377, Bavaria, Germany
    Josephine Padikie Ablakwa, University of Ghana, Accra, 00233, Greater Accra, Ghana

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.