Table 1. Seroprevalence of SFTS according to demographic characteristics in patients who visited a tertiary hospital located in southeastern Korea, 2015.
| Parameters | No. of patients tested | No. of seropositive patients by ELISA (%) | P value* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1,069 | 22 (2.1) | - |
| Gender | 0.884 | ||
| Male | 551 | 11 (2.0) | |
| Female | 518 | 11 (2.1) | |
| Age group, yr | 0.034† | ||
| 0–19 | 43 | 0 (0.0) | |
| 20–29 | 49 | 0 (0.0) | |
| 30–39 | 84 | 1 (1.2) | |
| 40–49 | 128 | 4 (3.1) | |
| 50–59 | 248 | 1 (0.4) | |
| 60–69 | 245 | 5 (2.0) | |
| 70–79 | 206 | 10 (4.9) | |
| 80–99 | 66 | 1 (1.5) | |
| Province of residence of the patients | 0.928 | ||
| Busan Metropolitan City | 838 | 18 (2.1) | |
| Gyeongnam Province | 191 | 4 (2.1) | |
| Ulsan Metropolitan City | 23 | 0 (0.0) | |
| Gyeongbuk Province | 11 | 0 (0.0) | |
| Others | 6 | 0 (0.0) | |
| Total | 1,069 | 22 (2.1) | |
| Area | 0.040 | ||
| Urban | 1,043 | 20 (1.9) | |
| Rural | 26 | 2 (7.7) |
SFTS = severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, ELISA = enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
*Categorical variables were compared between the seropositive and seronegative groups by Pearson’s χ2 test. A two-sided P value < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance; †Age-related trend in seropositivity rate was evaluated using the Cochran-Armitage trend test.