Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population.
| Variables | N=1,019 |
|---|---|
| Age; years | |
| Mean | 52.8 |
| Median (IQR) | 55.0 (38.0–66.0) |
| Sex; n (%) | |
| Female | 522 (51.2) |
| Male | 497 (48.8) |
| Occupation; n (%) | |
| Healthcare worker | 102 (10.0) |
| Military | 157 (15.4) |
| Dependents | 760 (74.6) |
| Comorbidities; a n (%) | |
| Hypertension | 396 (38.9) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 384 (37.7) |
| Dyslipidemia | 126 (12.4) |
| Chronic heart disease | 109 (10.7) |
| Cardiovascular disease | 90 (8.8) |
| Coronary artery disease | 33 (3.2) |
| Chronic kidney disease | 82 (8.0) |
| Lung diseaseb | 98 (9.6) |
| Asthma | 74 (7.3) |
| COPD | 9 (0.9) |
| Chronic lung disease | 38 (3.7) |
| Malignancy | 71 (7.0) |
| Hematopoietic stem cell | 18 (1.8) |
| Organ transplant | 23 (2.3) |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 35 (3.4) |
| Inflammatory bowel disease | 16 (1.6) |
| Other autoimmune disease | 44 (4.3) |
| Immunosuppressive medicationsc | 122 (12.0) |
| Depression | 24 (2.4) |
| Recent COVID-19 infectiond | 87 (8.5) |
| Number of comorbidities per patient; n (%) | |
| 1 | 270 (26.5) |
| 2 | 211 (20.7) |
| ≥3 | 272 (26.7) |
| History of previous HZ disease;e n (%) | 31 (3.0) |
| History of varicella infection; n (%) | |
| Yes | 345 (33.9) |
| Unknown | 674 (66.1) |
| History of varicella vaccination; n (%) | |
| Yes | 72 (7.1) |
| No/Unkown | 947 (92.9) |
No cases of HIV were reported. aHIV is not routinely tested for in Saudi Arabia; bIncluded asthma, COPD, and other chronic lung conditions; cMost common immunosuppressive medications: chemotherapy (n=33), methotrexate (n=9), azathioprine (n=8), cyclosporine (n=5), prednisolone (n=6), tacrolimus (n=6); dMedian time of HZ infection following COVID-19 infection=261 days (IQR=124–468 days); eRecurrent cases counted individually. COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; HZ, herpes zoster; IQR, interquartile range; SD, standard deviation.