[Epidemiological analysis of infertility in a Mexican population]

Infertility is defined as the failure to conceive after a year of sexual life without a method of birth control. Most studies indicate that 15% of all couples will experience primary or secondary infertility in some moment of their reproductive life.

To gain knowledge of general characteristics from patients with infertility in our environment (social, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic) that attended the Reproductive Biology Department of Hospital Juárez de Mexico.

A descriptive, observational, situational, and retrospective indagatory study was performed on 116 infertile patients, seen in the outpatient clinic, from January through December 1999. All had entered our protocol of infertility and selected treatment.

The altered ovarian endocrine factor was the most frequent (82.7%), followed by cervical factor (80%), masculine factor (38%) and tuboperitoneal factor (29%). In most cases the cause was multifactorial. The percentage of successful pregnancies (31.88%) was similar to that reported in the literature.

The most common factors that influence infertility resembled those exhibited by specialized clinics of affluent countries with similar pregnancy rates.