Factors Associated with Asymptomatic COVID-19 Patients in  Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia

Lim Kuang Kuay; Ainul Nadziha Mohd Hanafiah; Lee Soo Cheng; Chan Ying Ying; Mohd Shaiful Azlan Kassim; Chong Zhuo Lin; Roslinda Abu Sapian; Nurul Syarbani Eliana Musa; Ridwan Sanaudi; Kassim, 1 Chong Zhuo Lin, 1 Roslinda Abu Sapian, 4 Nurul Syarbani Eliana Musa, 5 Ridwan Sanaudi6 and Mohamed Paid Yusof

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Factors Associated with Asymptomatic COVID-19 Patients in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia

Author: Lim Kuang Kuay ¹ ; Ainul Nadziha Mohd Hanafiah ² ; Lee Soo Cheng ³ ; Chan Ying Ying ¹ ; Mohd Shaiful Azlan Kassim ¹ ; Chong Zhuo Lin ¹ ; Roslinda Abu Sapian ⁴ ; Nurul Syarbani Eliana Musa ⁵ ; Ridwan Sanaudi ⁶ ; Kassim, 1 Chong Zhuo Lin, 1 Roslinda Abu Sapian, 4 Nurul Syarbani Eliana Musa, 5 Ridwan Sanaudi6 and Mohamed Paid Yusof ³
Author Information

1. Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia.
2. Institute for Health Systems Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Malaysia
3. Petaling District Health Office, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Malaysia.
4. Research Grant and Management Unit, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
5. Collaboration and Innovation Unit, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
6. Sector for Biostatistics and Data Repository, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: COVID-19; Asymptomatic; Pandemic; Malaysia.
From:International Journal of Public Health Research 2021;11(2):1418-1424
CountryMalaysia
Language:English
Abstract: Inntroduction:The rapid spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide has led the World Health Organization to declare COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. As the local studies on factors leading to the absence or presence of clinical illness among the COVID-19 cases are sparse, the study aims to determine the factors associated with asymptomatic COVID19 patients in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia
Methods:Data on COVID-19 patients were extracted from the database of confirmed cases in Petaling District Health Office, Selangor, Malaysia from 3rd February 2020 to 30th April 2020. An asymptomatic laboratory-confirmed case is a person infected with COVID-19 who does not develop any symptoms. The study included socio-demographic variables, the detailed information on clinical manifestations and co-morbidity of the patients. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the factors associated with asymptomatic patients.
Results:The overall COVID-19 patients in Petaling District were 434. Approximately 70% (n= 292) of the patients were symptomatic while 32.7% (n= 142) were asymptomatic. Multivple logistic regression analyses revealed that factors significantly associated with asymptomatic patients were age below 40 years old (aOR: 1.79, 95% CI 1.11, 2.86), non-Malaysians (aOR: 3.22, 95% CI 1.44, 7.19) and local cases (aOR: 2.51, 95% CI 1.42, 4.42). Gender, ethnicity, comorbidity and township were not significantly associated with asymptomatic patients.
Conlcusion:Approximately one-third of COVID-19 patients were asymptomatic and the risk factors identified were younger age, non-Malaysians and local cases. Rigorous epidemiological investigation is helpful in identifying COVID-19 cases among these group of people who are asymptomatic.
Full text:202407010941577051121.2021my0262.pdf