Social contact patterns in South Korea: an analysis of a survey conducted in 2023-2024

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 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.

Our 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.