Table 1.

Abstinence periods and semen characteristics

Type of study	Abstinence periods	Subjects	Number of subjects/samples	Volume (mL)	Concentration (106/mL)	TSC (106/ejaculate)	TMS (106/ejaculate)	Motility (%)	Progressive motility (%)	Viability (%)	Normal morphology (%)	DNA fragmentation (%)	ROS
Prospective	4 hours and 3-5 days	Volunteers	11	↑	−−	↑	−−	↓	↓	−−	−−	−−	−−
Prospective	3 hours and 96 hours	Normozoospermic	21	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	↔	−−
Prospective	40 minutes and 2-7 days	Oligozoospermic	73	↑	↑	−−	−−	−−	↓	−−	↓	−−	−−
Prospective	2 hours and 3-4days	Healthy	3	↑	↑	↑	↔	↔	↔	↔	−−	↓	↔
Prospective	1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 days	Volunteers	10	↑	↑	↑	−−	−−	−−	↔	↑	−−	−−
Prospective	1, 3, 5, and 8 days	Volunteers	11	↑	↑	−−	−−	↔	−−	↔	↔	↔	−−
Prospective	1, 2, 5, 7, 9 and 11 days	Normozoospermic	7	↑	↑	↑	↑	↔	−−	↓	−−	↑	↔
Prospective	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 days	Normal	36	↑ ↑	↑	↑	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−
Retrospective	≤1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 days	Suspected infertile	1801	↑	−−	−−	−−	↔	−−	↔	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	8 hours and 3 days	Volunteers	7	↑	↔	↑	−−	−−	−−	−−	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	12 hours and 7 days	Volunteers	10	↑	↑	↑	−−	↓	−−	−−	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	2-4, 5-7 and ˃7 days	Healthy men	195	↑	↔	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−
Prospective	2, 4, 7, 10, 15 and 18 days	Volunteers	6	↑	↑	↑	−−	↔	−−	−−	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	˂4, 4-6 and ˃6 days	Healthy	27	↑	↑	↑	↔	−−	−−	−−	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	2-3 and 4-7 days	Non-azoospermic	422	↑	↑	↑	↑	↓	↓	−−	↓	−−	−−
Retrospective	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-10 and 11-14 days	Oligozoospermic	3506samples	↑	↑	↑	↑	↓	−−	−−	↓	−−	−−
Retrospective	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-10 and 11-14 days	Normozoospermic	5983 samples	↑	↑	↑	↑	↓	−−	−−	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	2, 3, 4 and 5 days	Fertile	500	↑	↑	−−	−−	−−	↓	−−	↔	−−	−−
Retrospective	≤2 and 3-7 days	Undergoing IUI	372	↑	↑	−−	↑	↓	−−	↓	−−	−−	−−
Prospective	1 and 4 days	Undergoing ICSI	40	↑	−−	−−	−−	↔	−−	−−	−−	↑	−−
Prospective	18-30 hours and 3-5 days	Healthy	57	↑	↑	−−	↔	↔	−−	−−	↑	↑	−−
Prospective	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 days	Normozoospermic	100 samples	↑	↑	↑	↑	↓	−−	↔	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	1 and 4 days	Planning IUI	40	↑	↑	↑	−−	↔	−−	−−	↔	−−	−−
Retrospective	2-3, 4-5 and 6-7 days	Attending Infertility Unit	730	↑	−−	↑	−−	−−	↓	↓	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	1 and 3-4 days	Healthy	6	↑	↑	↑	−−	↔	↔	↔	↔	↔	↔
Prospective	3, 6 and 10 days	Normozoospermic	7	↔	↑	↑	↔	−−	↓	↔	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	3, 6 and 10 days	Asthenozoospermic	7	↔	↑	↑	↔	−−	↔	↔	↔	−−	−−
Retrospective	≤3, 4-10 and ˃10 days	Undergoing IUI	929	−−	↑	−−	↑	−−	↔	−−	−−	−−	−−
Prospective	4 and 14 days	Nonobstructive azoospermic	50	−−	↑	↑	↑	↔	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−
Prospective	1, 2, 4, 7, 10 and 14 days	Healthy	4	−−	−−	↑	↑	↔	↔	↔	↔	−−	−−
Prospective	1 and 3-4 days	With high DNAfragmentation levels	35	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	↑	−−
Prospective	1-10 days	Healthy	36 samples	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	−−	↔

TSC; Total sperm count/ejaculate, TMS; Total motile sperm/ejaculate, ROS; Reactive oxygen species, ICSI; Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, IUI; Intrauterine insemination, ↑; Increase significantly with increasing abstinence period (P≤0.05), ↓; Decrease significantly with increasing abstinence period (P≤0.05), ↔; Not significantly different, and --; Not investigated.