Social contact patterns in South Korea: an analysis of a survey conducted in 2023-2024
Woo-Sik Son, Min-Kyung Chae, Dong-Uk Hwang, Kyeongah Nah, Minsoo Kim, Jong-Hoon Kim, Jonggul Lee

TL;DR
This paper presents new data on social contact patterns in South Korea, collected through a survey, to better understand how diseases might spread in different age groups and settings.
Contribution
The study provides the first publicly available detailed social contact data specific to South Korea, capturing variations across age, household size, and time periods.
Findings
Participants recorded an average of 4.81 contacts per day, with the highest contact rates among children and older adults.
Contact patterns varied significantly by time period, with the most contacts occurring during school semesters and Lunar New Year holidays.
Household size and age were strong predictors of contact frequency, with larger households and younger age groups having more interactions.
Abstract
Understanding social contact patterns is fundamental to the study of infectious disease transmission. However, in South Korea, detailed social contact data have not been publicly available. While global research on social contact patterns has expanded, there remains a critical need for more context-specific data in South Korea. We conducted a social contact survey over two distinct weeks covering various time periods, including school vacations and national holidays. Participants provided details such as the location, duration, frequency, and type of close contact, as well as information on the contact person’s age, sex, residential area and relationship with the participant. We analyzed the data using summary statistics and the Bayesian linear mixed model. A total of 1,987 participants recorded 133,776 contacts over two weeks, averaging 4.81 contacts per participant per day. The…
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Taxonomy
TopicsCOVID-19 epidemiological studies · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · COVID-19 and Mental Health
