The Association between Physical Activity and Sperm Quality Parameters: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iranian Infertile Men

Background: Infertility is described as inability of a couple to bring a child within 12 months or more of regular unprotected intercourse. Studies have suggested associations between semen quality and lifestyle factors, including physical activity and dietary intakes. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the relationship between physical activity and sperm quality parameters in infertile men who referred to infertility clinic of Isfahan City, Iran, in 2019. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 175 infertile men (18-55 years old) who referred to Royan infertility clinic in Isfahan, entered the study after completing the written consent form. Demographic data were collected using a questionnaire and physical activity information was collected by International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Sperm quality parameters including sperm concentration (SC), total sperm motility (TSM), normal sperm morphology (NSM), and sperm volume were investigated by spermogram test. For all analyses, SPSS software was used and P ˂ 0.05 was considered as significance level. Findings: Due to the lack of dissemination of physical activity data, all subjects were classified in the group of physical activity with moderate intensity. Multivariate logistic regression [odds ratio (OR)] with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess more accurately the relationship between physical activity and abnormal sperm parameters. Median values of metabolic equivalent of task (METs) were used to analyze the data due to lack of dissemination of physical activity data and no significant relationship was observed between sperm quality parameters and levels above median compared to the reference level (levels below median) in participants. Conclusion: No significant relationship was found between sperm quality parameters and physical activity pattern in infertile men. Furthermore, no relationship was found between body mass index (BMI) and sperm quality parameters

The Reliability and Validity of Persian Translation of the Seattle Angina Questionnaire in Patients with Myocardial Infarction

AbstractIntroduction: Myocardial Infarction (MI) is the major cause of death in the industrial countries. In addition to the clinical and economic burden, MI affects health related quality of life (HRQoL). Original version of the SAQ was developed cross-sectionally and may be used for measuring clinically important dimensions of coronary artery disease. However, the Persian translation is not available for Myocardial Infarction patients. Materials and Methods: After multi-stage translating based on Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) protocol, the reliability examined on 130 patients with MI. The SF-36 was used to assess the validity of the SAQ. To assess test-retest reliability, the patients refilled the SAQ after 5 days. Results: Reliability of the SAQ was assessed by Cronbach’s Alpha and the Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Validity was determined using Pearson correlation matrix for the subclasses and the total scores (ρ). ICC exceeded 0.6 in all domains. The weighted kappa ranged from 0.492 to 0.853. Conclusion: Reliability and validity of the Persian version of the SAQ is acceptable and seems that this questionnaire can be a useful tool in assessing health related quality of life in Persian speaking patients with myocardial infarction suffering from angina. Keywords: Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ), myocardial infarction, health related quality of life, reliability, validit