Abstract
To evaluate whether the Spring Festival has an effect on the outcomes of patients undergoing their first embryo transfer (ET) via in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI). We conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 11,625 first ET cycles were performed at a university-affiliated hospital between January 2014 and March 2022. Women who underwent ET during the peri-Spring Festival periods were designated as the Festival Group, while the remainder were categorized as the Non-Festival Group. Multivariate logistic regression and propensity score matching (PSM) were applied to assess the impact of the "Spring Festival Effect" on pregnancy outcomes. Prior to PSM, patients in Festival Group had lower clinical pregnancy rate (44.39% vs. 52.50%, P < 0.001), implantation rate (34.41% vs. 40.43%, P < 0.001), ongoing pregnancy rate (38.71% vs. 47.15%, P < 0.001), and live birth rate (37.33% vs. 44.82%, P < 0.001). After controlling for confounders, a similar trend remained in the PSM analysis with matching ratios ranging from 1:1 to 1:4. In the multivariable regression analysis, the Spring Festival was found to be an independent risk factor for poor prognosis. These findings indicated that sociocultural events, represented by the Spring Festival, decreased the chances of IVF/ICSI success, underscoring the importance for clinicians and patients to be more vigilant with healthcare during major social events.