TABLE 3. Exposures and behaviors in the 2 weeks preceding illness onset in outpatients and inpatients who had positive test results for SARS-CoV-2 (N = 339) at 14–21 days or 28–35 days after testing — 11 academic medical centers,* United States, March–May 2020†.
| Characteristic§ | No. (%) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All (339) | Outpatients (262) | Inpatients (77) | P-value | |
|
Contact (≤6 feet) with COVID-19 patient [might have multiple]
|
153 (46)
|
129 (50) |
24 (32) |
0.004 |
|
Contact
| ||||
| Family member |
69 (45)
|
56 (43) |
13 (54) |
|
| Work colleague |
52 (34)
|
47 (36) |
5 (21) |
|
| Friend |
15 (10)
|
14 (11) |
1 (4) |
|
| Other¶ |
29 (19)
|
22 (17) |
7 (29) |
|
|
Type of residence
|
<0.001 |
|||
| Single family home |
211 (62)
|
176 (67) |
35 (45) |
|
| Apartment |
94 (28)
|
66 (25) |
28 (36) |
|
| Long-term care facility |
4 (1)
|
0 (0) |
4 (5) |
|
| Group home |
1 (<1)
|
0 (0) |
1 (1) |
|
| Other |
29 (9)
|
20 (8) |
9 (12) |
|
|
Lives with others
|
303 (89)
|
232 (89) |
71 (92) |
0.36 |
| No. of other household members, median (IQR) |
3 (1–4)
|
3 (1.5–4) |
2 (1–4) |
0.49 |
|
Employed
|
212 (64)
|
180 (70) |
32 (42) |
<0.001 |
|
If employed, worked outside home within last 2 wks
|
0.49 |
|||
| Every day |
118 (59)
|
102 (60) |
16 (52) |
|
| 2–3 times per wk |
38 (19)
|
31 (18) |
7 (23) |
|
| Once per wk |
6 (3)
|
6 (4) |
0 (0) |
|
| Never |
39 (19)
|
31 (18) |
8 (26) |
|
|
If employed, ability to telework
|
35 (17)
|
32 (18) |
3 (10) |
0.25 |
|
If employed, worked in health care facility
|
53 (25)
|
46 (26) |
7 (23) |
0.72 |
|
Total number of daily contacts, median (IQR)
|
5 (2–10)
|
5 (3–13) |
3 (1–10) |
0.013 |
|
Frequency of interaction with others outside of home
|
<0.001 |
|||
| Every day |
130 (41)
|
113 (47) |
17 (23) |
|
| 2–3 times per wk |
65 (21)
|
47 (19) |
18 (24) |
|
| Once per wk |
38 (12)
|
32 (13) |
6 (8) |
|
| Never |
83 (26)
|
50 (21) |
33 (45) |
|
|
Days going out for groceries
|
0.071 |
|||
| Every day |
7 (2)
|
4 (2) |
3 (4) |
|
| 2–3 times per wk |
85 (27)
|
65 (27) |
20 (27) |
|
| Once per wk |
120 (38)
|
100 (41) |
20 (27) |
|
| Never |
107 (34)
|
75 (31) |
32 (43) |
|
|
Attended gathering with >10 persons
|
28 (8)
|
21 (8) |
7 (9) |
0.77 |
| Used public transportation | 23 (7) | 12 (5) | 11 (15) | 0.003 |
Abbreviations: COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; IQR = interquartile range.
* Patients were sampled from 11 academic medical centers in nine states (University of Washington [Washington], Oregon Health and Sciences University [Oregon], University of California Los Angeles and Stanford University [California], Hennepin County Medical Center [Minnesota], Vanderbilt University [Tennessee], The Ohio State University [Ohio], Wake Forest University [North Carolina], Montefiore Medical Center [New York], Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Baystate Medical Center [Massachusetts]).
† Exposures were elicited in 2 weeks preceding illness onset or 2 weeks preceding testing for asymptomatic patients.
§ Of 350 patient respondents, 339 were included; 11 (3%) were excluded for not answering any of the exposure-related questions; for individual exposures in 339 included respondents, some respondents were missing data on close contact with a person with a COVID-19 case (seven), being employed (six), working outside the home (11), ability to telework (three), working at a health care facility (one), average number of daily contacts outside the home (15), frequency of interaction with others outside the home (23), days going out for groceries (20), attendance at gathering with ≥10 persons (six), and use of public transportation (six); denominators used to calculate proportions of respondents with individual exposures or behaviors exclude patients with missing data for the exposure or behavior.
¶ Other included exposures within health care settings (18), assisted living facilities (six), neighbors (two), clients at work (one), exposure at a correctional facility (one), and roommate at long-term care facility (one); among 24 exposures in health care settings or assisted living facilities, 22 were reported among persons who worked in a health care facility.