Tobacco smoking is associated with decreased semen quality

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking is a public health issue and has been implicated in adverse reproductive outcomes including semen quality. Available data however provides conflicting findings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of tobacco smoking on semen quality among men in Ghana. METHODS: In this study, a total of 140 subjects were recruited, comprising 95 smokers and 45 non-smokers. Smokers were further categorized into mild, moderate and heavy smokers. Semen parameters such as sperm concentration, motility, viability and normal morphology were measured according to the World Health Organisation criteria. RESULTS: The study showed that smokers had significantly lower semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility, total sperm count, sperm morphology, free testosterone and follicle stimulating hormone (p <0.05 respectively), compared with non-smokers. Smokers were at a higher risk of developing oligospermia, asthenozoospermia and teratozoospermia (OR = 3.1, 4.2 and, 4.7; p <0.05) than non-smokers. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrated a decline in semen quality in a dose dependent tobacco smoking manner. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12978-016-0207-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.