Impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women in South Korea: Focusing on prevalence, severity, and clinical outcomes

• Main Authors: So Hee Kim (Author), Yeonmi Choi (Author), Dokyoung Lee (Author), Hyejin Lee (Author), Ji Hoi Kim (Author), Eun Saem Choi (Author), Young Mi Jung (Author), Jinwoo Lee (Author), Pyoeng Gyun Choe (Author), Ji Yoon Lee (Author), Youngme Do (Author), Chan-Wook Park (Author), Joong Shin Park (Author), Jong Kwan Jun (Author), Seung Mi Lee (Author), Jin Yong Lee (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Elsevier, 2022-02-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Background: In the era of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there is a paucity of information regarding actual prevalence of COVID-19 in pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of COVID-19 infection and clinical outcome in pregnant women and non-pregnant women. Methods: This is a nationwide cross-sectional study in South Korea between January 2020 and February 2021 using the claim database. The primary outcome was the prevalence of COVID-19 in pregnant women, and the secondary outcome was the occurrence of severe COVID-19 illness among infected patients. Severity of COVID-19 was classified into four categories according to WHO ordinal scale. Results: The prevalence of COVID-19 infection was lower in pregnant women than non-pregnant women aged 20-44 (0·02% vs. 0.14%, p < 0.0001). However, among COVID-19 positive women at age 20-44, pregnant women was at higher risk of oxygen therapy after hospitalization (score 4 in WHO ordinal scale: 6.4% vs. 1.6%, p < 0.05). There were no deaths or hospitalized severe disease in pregnant women with COVID-19, although the majority of them (96·2%) were admitted to hospital. On the other hand, 42·3% of non-pregnant women at 20-44 age were admitted to hospital and 0.04% of them died and 0.1% had hospitalized severe disease. Conclusions: The prevalence of COVID-19 infection in pregnant women was lower than non-pregnant women in Korea, resulting in relatively small cases of fatality. It has implications that public health policy, such as an effective response to COVID-19 and a powerful preemptive strategy for pregnant women, can lower risk of COVID-19 infection and better clinical outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19.

Item Description

1876-0341
10.1016/j.jiph.2022.01.004