Purpose: Does IDEF mapping help monitor the technical process of IUI and explore the potential improvements which might contribute to increased pregnancy and live birth rates?
Method: Retrospective analysis of 1729 homologous IUI cycles of couples attending a fertility clinic in a university hospital setting. Standardized conventional semen parameters were analyzed and the semen samples prepared via discontinuous density gradient centrifugation.
Results: There was no significant association between sperm concentration, motility and morphology (analysis phase), and pregnancy outcome. Only female and male ages were significantly associated with the pregnancy outcome. There was a significant difference in the odds on clinical pregnancies and live births when analysis was ≤ 21 min initiated, and < 107 min between sample production and IUI, adjusted for male and female age.
Conclusions: Adjusting for the couple's age, we could show that time intervals between semen production and analysis and IUI when kept low significantly influenced clinical pregnancies and live births.
Keywords: Density gradient centrifugation; IDEF modeling; Intrauterine insemination; Semen parameters.