The aim of the study was to evaluate the semen quality of university students in Wuhan, the largest city in the world in terms of the number of university students. All student sperm donors recorded in the Hubei Province Human Sperm Bank from 1 March 2010 to 31 December 2013 were screened. At last, a total of 3616 semen samples from 1808 university student sperm donors were eligible and retrospectively analyzed. Each donor’s semen parameters were averaged over two samples and compared with the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, and a generalized linear regression model was used to examine several determinants of semen quality. We found that the mean and median values were 3.0ml and 2.8ml for semen volume, 50.2×106 ml-1 and 50.0×106 ml-1 for sperm concentration, 148.1×106 and 142.1×106 for total sperm count, and 58.6% and 60.0% for total sperm motility. About 85.0% of donors had parameters that were all normal. Season and duration of abstinence were critical factors affecting semen quality. We also found a decrease in sperm concentration during the 4-years observation; however, this may not be a strong evidence to confirm the declining trend of semen quality. In conclusion, semen quality of university students in Wuhan was not optimal and should be paid high attention, long term observation and further study should be carried out to confirm the present situation.

Keywords: semen analysis; semen quality; sperm donors; university students

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