Composite dietary antioxidant index and infertility: A study based on NHANES 2013 to 2018

The Composite Dietary Antioxidant Index (CDAI), a robust metric reflecting the antioxidant richness of one's diet, has garnered attention for its capacity to temper the progression of a plethora of chronic maladies: among them, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, depression, nephrolithiasis (kidney stones), and papillomavirus infections. Its established role as a guardian against such conditions notwithstanding, the association between CDAI and reproductive health, particularly infertility, has yet to be thoroughly delineated. Against this backdrop, our research endeavor aims to explore the potential correlation between CDAI scores and the prevalence of infertility, thereby contributing to the existing knowledge base on the multifaceted impacts of dietary antioxidants on human health. The analysis was conducted using weighted logistic regression, stratified by demographic variables, and adjusted for key covariates to examine the relationship between CDAI and infertility. Stratified subgroup analyses and interaction assessments were meticulously executed to ensure the reliability of the observed association across various demographic strata, fortifying the robustness of our findings. Within our cohort of 3098 participants, a striking inverse relationship emerged between CDAI and infertility rates. Precisely, an increment of 1 unit in CDAI was associated with a decrease in infertility prevalence by 3.01%, as delineated in the synthetically adjusted model. Notably, individuals in the uppermost quartile of CDAI exhibited a pronounced 45.4% diminution in infertility prevalence relative to those in the lowest quartile, corroborated by a confidence interval of [0.546 (0.398-0.751)]. This substantiates the strength and reliability of the observed correlation, underscoring the potential protective role of a diet rich in antioxidants against infertility. CDAI is related to infertility among American adults. Our results suggest that elevated CDAI may potentially reduce the odds of infertility prevalence.