The Effect of Age and Abstinence Time on Semen Quality and Specific Sperm Morphological Anomalies

Background Aging is known to cause a significant decrease in semen quality, but its association with specific sperm morphological anomalies is unclear. The study aimed to investigate the effects of age and abstinence time on semen quality and specific morphological anomalies. Methods This study is a cross-sectional study including 5491 male participants between the ages of 17–57. Semen parameters and morphological anomalies analyzed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria were compared in different age and abstinence time groups. Correlations between semen variables and age were analyzed by linear regression analysis after adjusting for body mass index and abstinence time. Results Increasing age caused a decrease in all semen parameters and an increase in the incidence of total head and tail anomalies, elongated heads and coiled tails. Increasing abstinence time resulted in an increase in semen parameters other than progressive and rapid progressive motility, and amorphous, round, and tapered heads, irregular acrosomal distribution, coiled and short tails, and excessive residual cytoplasma, and a decrease in rapid progressive motility and pin, elongated, large, and small heads decreased. Conclusions Semen variables appear to be affected by abstinence time. Aging is a significant risk factor for poor semen quality and particularly elongated heads and coiled tails in individuals over 40 years of age. Clinical trial number: Not applicable.