Prevalence of Infertility in Women in a Southwestern Nigerian Community

The prevalence and common causes of infertility in women aged between 15 and 55 years was assessed in four hospital centers in Osun State, located in the SouthWestern part of Nigeria. A survey of a consecutive sample of 200 cases of infertility were carried out in four hospital centers with a total of 50 cases of infertility evaluated in each of the centers between 2001 – 2003. The incidence of high infertility in women was established in all the centers; (Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife), 59.4%, (Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ilesa), 47.7%, (Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Oshogbo), 54.8% and (General Hospital, Ikire), 44.2%. 77.5% was recorded for a high rate of secondary Infertility, while Primary Infertility was 22.5%. The commonest causes of infertility in this environment were, the tubal factor, uterine factor, and ovarian factor representing 39.5%, 30% and 13% respectively. The least common cause were cervical factor, Pelvic Infection Disease (PID), and endometriosis which was seen in 3%, 5.5% and 2.5% of the subjects respectively. There was also prevalence of infertility between the ages: 15 – 25 years at the rate of 17%, while 26 – 35 years at the rate of 31.5%. The majority of the cases occurred between the ages of 36 – 45 at the rate of 50.5% and between 46 – 55 years at the rate 1%.