Risk factors for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections: a nationwide population-based study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly turned into a public health emergency worldwide; however, the risk factors for infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have not been well-described. We aimed to identify the clinical risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infections in Korea, where social distancing and face masks have been strongly recommended. METHODS: The data of individuals who underwent the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2 between January 3 and May 31, 2020 were retrieved from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service dataset. We used multivariable logistic regression models to identify the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infections in the population. RESULTS: We retrieved the results of 219,729 SARS-CoV-2 tests, of which 7,333 were positive results. In the multivariable analysis, female sex was associated with a higher risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 [odds ratio (OR) =1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.24-1.37, P<0.0001]. Additionally, populations living in areas that had large outbreaks of COVID-19 were at an increased risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (OR =6.87, 95% CI: 6.55-7.21, P<0.0001). The odds of a positive test were greater for the Medical Aid beneficiaries (OR =1.99, 95% CI: 1.82-2.18, P<0.0001) than for the National Health Insurance beneficiaries. Individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) were more likely to test positive (OR =1.15, 95% CI: 1.07-1.24, P=0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: Women, individuals living in areas with large outbreaks of COVID-19, Medical Aid beneficiaries, and individuals with DM might have greater risks of contracting SARS-CoV-2 infections despite practicing social distancing and using face masks.
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Key risk factors associated with severe COVID-19 include advanced age (>80 years), diabetes, obesity, male gender, and hypertension.
“Key risk factors associated with severe COVID-19 include advanced age (>80 years), diabetes, obesity, male gender, and hypertension (8–12).”
From Lung epithelial and endothelial damage, loss of tissue repair, inhibition of fibrinolysis, and cellular senescence in fatal COVID-19 (2021) · cites this paper as [11]
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- Authors
- Park, S. C., Won, S. Y., Kim, N. H., Choi, H., Youk, T. M., Lee, H. J., & Jeon, H. H.
- Affiliations
- National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital (KR)
- Seoul National University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Jeon, Han Ho
- Venue
- Annals of Translational Medicine
- Publisher
- AME Publishing Company
- Published
- 2021-02
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 211-211
- ISSN
- 2305-5839 (ISSN-L)
- 2305-5847
- PMC
- PMC7940880
- OpenAlex
- W3123528758
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3
- FWCI
- 0.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Annals of Translational Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Keywords
- SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic, risk factors, sex differences, diabetes mellitus, medical aid beneficiaries, health insurance status, COVID-19 outbreak, social distancing, face masks, Korea
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