Analysis of influencing factors for social avoidance and distress among infertile patients based on LASSO and XGBoost algorithms.

OBJECTIVE

Infertility negatively impacts mental health and quality of life, with social avoidance and distress (SAD) being a key but underrecognized issue. This study aims to analyze SAD risk factors in infertility patients.

METHODS

A retrospective study of 205 infertility patients (October 2022-July 2025) was divided into SAD (n = 93) and non-SAD (n = 112) groups. LASSO regression and XGBoost identified key variables, followed by logistic regression and ROC analysis.

RESULTS

Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found in age, education, residence, income, infertility stigma scale (ISS), self-esteem scale (SES), cognitive dismantling scale (CD-RISC) and social relationship quality scale (SRQS) scores. Five common factors (age, ISS, SES, CD-RISC, SRQS) were identified. Logistic regression showed age (OR = 1.333) and ISS (OR = 1.101) as risk factors, while SES (OR = 0.726), CD-RISC (OR = 0.876) and SRQS (OR = 0.863) were protective (P < 0.05). AUC values ranged 0.694-0.723, showing only modest discriminative ability.

CONCLUSION

SAD in infertility patients is independently associated with age, ISS, SES, CD-RISC and SRQS scores, each with moderate predictive value. These findings support the application of the above indicators for early identification and risk assessment of SAD among infertile populations.