Identifying social isolation profiles among young and middle-aged patients with cancer in Western China: A latent profile analysis.

Objective: To identify the various profiles of social isolation among 18-59-year-old patients with cancer in Western China and examine their demographic, clinical, and cultural predictors. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 300 patients from a tertiary hospital who completed standardized assessments of social isolation (Social Avoidance Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale) and family functioning. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify the subgroups, and multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze predictors of the profiles. Results: Three distinct latent profiles were identified: "avoidance-dominant" (52.3%), which was characterized by high levels of social avoidance (12.52 ​± ​1.38) and low loneliness (30.87 ​± ​6.89), "loneliness-dominant" (27.0%), which was characterized by high levels of loneliness (53.15 ​± ​6.24) and low social avoidance (2.07 ​± ​1.38), and "balanced" (20.7%), which was characterized by balanced scores on both the measures. Individuals with fatigue, employment status, personality traits, and family dynamics significantly predicted profile membership ( Conclusions: Social isolation was heterogeneous among young and middle-aged patients with cancer. Fatigue significantly predicted distinct patterns of social isolation. Furthermore, exploratory findings indicated a potential role of religious beliefs in the avoidance-dominant profile; however, replication with larger samples is required. Family dynamics may buffer the risk of isolation in patients prone to avoidance, whereas those dominated by loneliness may lack such safeguards. Health care providers can implement tailored interventions to mitigate social isolation based on these varying profiles.