ArticleBMC infectious diseases2025
Social contact patterns in South Korea: an analysis of a survey conducted in 2023-2024.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Influenza vaccine protection and contact patterns among outpatients with influenza-like illness during the 2024-2025 season in China: a test-negative case-control study.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- A Nationwide Social Contact Survey Dataset for Public Health and Social Sciences Research in South Korea.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Social contact patterns and associated factors survey of Shangrao City.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding 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.
methodsWe 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.
resultsA total of 1,987 participants recorded 133,776 contacts over two weeks, averaging 4.81 contacts per participant per day. The average number of contacts per day varied by age, household size, and time period. Contacts were highest in the age group 5-19, lowest in the age group 20-29, and then gradually increased up to the age group 70+. Contacts also increased with household size. Weekdays during the school semester showed the highest number of contacts, followed by weekdays during vacations, the Lunar New Year holidays, and weekends. Contact patterns differed notably by period; during the Lunar New Year holidays, closed contacts with extended family members and, therefore, subnational social mixing were enhanced.
conclusionOur analyses across different time periods revealed significant and some unique variations of social contact patterns in South Korea. These findings can improve our understanding of infectious disease transmission in South Korea and will be useful for tailoring regional epidemiological models.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.