Iron Deficiency Anemia as a Factor in Male Infertility: Awareness in Health College Students in the Jazan Region of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Male contribution towards couple infertility is increasing but is less discussed. We aimed to assess the knowledge about iron deficiency anemia (IDA) as a contributor to male infertility in students at health colleges of Jazan University. A multicentric, cross-sectional survey included 910 participants and 768 participants qualified as per our inclusion criteria. The questions were categorized as: Model 1—knowledge about IDA-induced male infertility; Model 2—knowledge about IDA. The average knowledge of IDA causing male infertility is very low among students. The 18–20 years age group had a lesser score for either knowledge of IDA (M2; p-value = 0.047) or total (p-value < 0.0001) compared to the older group. In addition, female students were significantly more likely to be better in achieving higher total scores (p-value = 0.023) as well as M2 scores (p-value < 0.0001) when compared to the respective male category. On the other hand, males were significantly better in scoring for M1 (p-value = 0.004) compared to females. Awareness about iron deficiency anemia as a factor in male infertility may reduce the infertility burden, arising from a preventable factor, in the Jazan region.

Knowledge and Awareness of Iron Deficiency Anemia among Female Students in Dubai

“…The similarity of the results is likely due to students being at a college level which is similar to this study. Also, another study that was done in health colleges at Jazan University in Saudi Arabia had similar results as they stated that the knowledge level was good overall [16]. Their results could have been high due to the sample characteristics, as being from health colleges give them the advantage of being exposed to the topic, and having a higher knowledge level is expected.…”

“…The results showed that females were significantly more aware of the nutritional aspects of iron deficiency than males were. Still, overall, the knowledge level was sufficient although only a minority were aware of the impact of IDA on infertility [16].…”

A Study to Assess the Knowledge of Adolescent Girls about iron Insufficiency and Anemia

“…Conducting interviews with 5o adolescent girls has resulted that 15.6% of children belonging to uneducated and illiterate families. As opined by Akhter et al, (2021), approximately 85.1 % of students' fathers are educated and mothers are not educated enough. 12.8% of students' parents are employed and well educated.…”

High-fat diet impairs male fertility by disrupting Divalent metal transporter 1 and miR-135b in the gut-testis axis

“…Obesity, in ammation, and iron de ciency are closely related [34]. In ammation and iron de ciency are important causes of impaired reproductive function in obese men [39][40][41]. In ammation reduces the number of Leydig cells and spermatozoa, decreases sperm viability and affects the synthesis of testicular steroid hormones [42,43].…”