effects of patient age, duration and cause of infertility and number of pre-ovulatory follicles on intrauterine insemination outcomes

introduction: prevalence of infertility in general population is around 15-10 percent. intra- uterine insemination (iui) is one method for treatment of infertility. success rate of this method is affected by different factors. past studies have shown that induction of ovulation and iui has increased significantly the chance of pregnancy in the infertile couple, especially male factor infertility. the aim of this study was to investigate the success rate of iui and associated factors in kashan fertility and sterility center .   material and methods: data from 120 patients (age between 20 and 42 years) who were referred to kashan infertility center (iran) during 2005-2009 were studied. according to the world health organization instructions, semen samples of patients were prepared using swim-up and percoll gradient techniques. after preparation of sample, sperm motility and sperm count were performed. one ml of sperm suspension was expelled into uterine cavity.   results: pregnancy rate of women with less than 40 years was significantly more than older women were (p<0.007). pregnancy rate in infertility duration of less than 6 years was significantly more than the longer duration of infertility (p<0.005). pregnancy rate in patients with unknown cause of infertility 15.3%, but in patients who had endometriosis, pregnancy rate was significantly lower (p<0.05). in cycles with a single pre-ovulatory follicle the pregnancy rate was significantly lower than in cycles with more follicles (p<0.05).   conclusion: this study showed that in infertile patients with less than 40 years of age, duration of infertility less than 6 years and infertility with non-endometriosis origin, iui using clomiphene citrate and hmg is a suitable method for treatment of infertility.