Table 3.

Descriptive means, medians, and P values for semen parameters, DNA, and hormone profile.

Semen parameters	Before cooling value		First after cooling value (approx. 4 weeks)		Average after cooling values (4–12 weeks)		First after cooling (P value) Sig. (P<0.05)	Average after cooling (P value) Sig. (P<0.05)
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Volume (mL)	3.62	3.32	3.46	2.13	3.55	1.57	.941	.801
Concentration (×106/mL)	12.12	19.26	16.14	27.01	15.60	23.72	.363	.395
Count (×106/ejaculate)	38.88	25.7	40.21	50.47	44.05	60.93	.341	.352
Motility (%)	25.39	20.39	31.24	20.32	29.00	15.95	.017a	.009a
Progressive motility (%)	14.46	10.64	23.01	18.01	21.35	13.93	.154	.168
Morphology (%)	2.09	2.36	2.80	3.54	2.72	3.34	.157	.266
Teratospermia Index	2.28	0.34	2.26	0.27	2.27	0.22	.989	.741
Vitality (% alive)	64.80	18.52	70.87	14.78	71.67	14.62	.045a	.032a
DNA profile
Fragmentation index (%)	23.50	14.40	16.99	14.93	17.68	14.72	.679	.945
Hormone profile
FSH (IU/mL)	7.36	5.56	5.93	3.96			.542
LH (IU/L)	6.32	2.59	6.00	2.67			.999
Total testosterone (nmol/L)	14.53	8.44	17.11	8.11			.431
SHBG (nmol/L)	34.58	17.37	38.50	27.11			Not done
Estradiol (pg/mL)	109.96	43.24	133.92	64.32			.862
Prolactin (ng/mL)	9.21	3.41	12.45	3.65			.035a

Note: For the semen parameters, there are two P values (one for the paired t test between before cooling and the first “after value” and one for the paired t test between before cooling and the “average after values” when multiple subsequent testing was conducted by the patient [4–12 weeks]). P values were not obtained for SHBG because hormone profiles were rarely done for these values. DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid; FSH = follicle-stimulating hormone; LH = luteinizing hormone; SHBG = sex hormone-binding globulin; Sig. = significance.

^aSignificantly different from before cooling values, P<.05.