Distribution of COVID-19 by Sex and Age Groups and Its Association with Travel and Contact History: An Overview of Early Epidemic

Objectives: To determine the frequency of COVID-19 and its association with age, gender, travel and exposure.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in COVID-19 clinic, Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex, Nowshera, from February 2020 to April 2020. A total of 260 suspects were included under strict criteria. Patients received in general OPD and emergencies were excluded. Data was entered in a format in SPSS version 25 for analysis and reporting. Descriptive, inferential and correlation statistics were used.

Results: Out of a total 260 of suspects/patients, 66(25.4%) females and 194(74.6%) were males. The nasopharyngeal swabs of 63(24.23%) cases were sent for viral detection selected for PCR testing on the bases of a scoring system. Out of 63 cases 18(6.92%) were COVID-19 positive, 32(12.30%) negative and results of 12(4.61%) were still awaited. The estimated relative risk in male gender was rr=1.08, 95%CI, 0.77-1.55 and in age group>60 years was rr=2.27, 95%CI, 1.35-5.14. There was a positive statistically significant correlation of disease in patients with contact and travel history (p=0.05, rho=0.12; p=0.001, rho=0.34), respectively.

Conclusion: The results suggest that the age>50 years has higher susceptibility for COVID-19. Similarly, infectivity with 2019-nCoV has a statistically significant correlation with travel history, contact history and age.