Study on the Contact Patterns of High-Risk Groups for Infection: Children and the elderly

Oh Hyang Soon
Sunchon National University, Suncheon, Korea
Ryu Mi Kyung
Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service
Park Hyunjung
Department of Nursing Science, Pyeongtaek University

Contact is the main means through which infection spreads. The purpose of this study was to analyze hand contact and social contact behavior research tools and the contact behaviors of high-risk groups for infection: children and the elderly. The development of research tools was collected through a systematic literature review and the Delphi method. Hand contact was measured in a video observation study of 2-hour-long videos, and social contact was measured through contact diary surveys which recorded physical and non-physical contact for 24 hours (2018.10.08.-2019.01.07). The mean contact frequency (frequency/person, 2hr) of hand contact of children was 283.7 (self contact), 35.3 (other person contact), and 457.5 (environment contact). The average contact time (sec/person, 2hr) was 2,689 (self contact), 249 (other person contact), and 8,742 (environment contact). The contact frequency was higher in children under 48 months of age than in children over 48 months of age (p =0.003), and the contact duration was longer in girls than in boys (p =0.026). The frequency of hand contact among the elderly was 260 (self contact), 16.3 (other person contact), and 182.2 (environment contact). Hand contact time was 6,114.3 (self contact), 214.1 (other person contact) and 2,731.5 (environment contact). Social contact averaged 12.1 (person/day) (± 9.11) for children and 11.33 (± 6.90) for the elderly. In this study, we conducted previously unpublished contact behavior research in both children and the elderly in Korea. Further research on a national scale is needed to produce more representative results.

Keywords: infection, elderly, children, contact, spread