Infertility in the Chinese population of Hong Kong.

Abstract

The findings of a retrospective study of 638 couples attending an infertility clinic in Hong Kong from 1975-79 are presented. Of these 72% had primary and 28% secondary infertility. Causes of infertility were: 1) ovulation disorders, 42.2%; 2) tubal factor, 16%; 3) unknown, 13.2%; 4) multiple factors, 11.1%; and 5) male factors, 9.7%. The only significant difference between primary and secondary infertility is the low incidence of male factors in secondary infertility (p0.01); also as the age increases, the incidence of ovulation disorders falls while the incidence of tubal factors increases. By the end of 1981 of the patients where no cause could be found, 67.9% conceived without any treatment; of those with ovulation disorders, 22 conceived before the treatment was started, 17 after it was stopped. The pregnancy rate in patients with secondary infertility was higher than that in patients with primary infertility and the pregnancy rate decreased with age, especially after age 35. The differences in incidence of cases of infertility may be due to racial factors or differences in lifestyle.