title: The sperm penetration test (P-test) can predict fecundability in the male partner from infertile couples.
abstract: Three hundred and twenty-one consecutive couples were investigated for infertility at Hvidovre University Hospital in the period from November 1977 to June 1985. The male partners were evaluated in two ways: the classical semen analysis, and the ability of sperm to penetrate fresh hen egg white, the P-test. A Cox regression analysis was used to describe the relation between these variables and fecundability, i.e. the time required to conceive. Four of thirteen variables--the number of morphologically normal spermatozoa, the number of motile spermatozoa, the P-test, and the man's age--each have significant relation to the fecundability. However, when covariation is considered, only the P-test and the man's age possess significant prognostic information, whereas the variables of the classical semen analysis do not. This indicates that the P-test may replace the classical semen analysis when trying to predict individual pregnancy probabilities. Finally, the P-test and the man's age are combined to form a prognostic index which predicts the fecundability of the male partner in the individual infertile couple.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hvidovre University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bostofte
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bagger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michael
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stakemann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012661:Semen / Q000166:cytology; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000473:pathology