Public Search Interests related to COVID-19: Insights from Google Search Trends in Bangladesh

AbstractObjectivePublic response monitoring is critical to reducing COVID-19 infections and developing effective public health strategies. This study explored Google search trends to understand public responses to COVID-19 concerns in Bangladesh.MethodsWe used country-level Google search trends data to examine the association between Google search terms related to COVID-19 deaths, face masks, and COVID-19 vaccines and the actual and one-week lagged actual COVID-19 death counts from February 2, 2020, to December 19, 2020, in Bangladesh. Results: Search terms related to COVID-19 deaths, face masks, and COVID-19 vaccines increased and peaked during March and April, but then began declining gradually after June 2020. The mean relative search volume for face masks (35 points) was higher than for death information (8 points) and vaccines (16 points) throughout the study period, and searching for masks peaked (100 points) during the third week of March. Search interests for death information and face masks were negatively correlated with the actual and one-week lagged actual COVID-19 death counts.ConclusionIn response to declining trends in COVID-19-related google search terms, policymakers should strengthen ongoing risk communication and preventive information dissemination programs to control and prevent COVID-19 cases and deaths.

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Enhanced Public Interest in Response to the Refugee and Healthcare Crises in Greece

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17072272 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (7) ◽

pp. 2272 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ourania S. Kotsiou ◽

Vaios S. Kotsios ◽

Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis

Keyword(s):

Economic Crisis ◽

Public Interest ◽

Public Awareness ◽

National Health System ◽

Search Term ◽

The Public ◽

Search Terms ◽

Search Volume ◽

Aegean Islands ◽

Relative Search Volume

Background: The Greek National Health System (NHS) has been profoundly affected by the synergy of the economic and refugee crises. We aimed at evaluating the public interest regarding refugee and healthcare issues in Greece. Methods: Google Trends was employed to normalize traffic data on a scale from 0 to 100, presented as monthly relative search volume (RSV) for the search term queries: “refugees”, “health”, “diseases”, “hospital”, and “economic crisis” in Greece, from the period 2008 to 2020. Cross-country comparisons in selected European countries were made. Results: The analysis of RSV data showed an upward trend for the keyword “refugee”, in Greece, in the last five years, with two remarkable peaks from 2015 to 2016 and from 2019 to the present. Interest regarding refugees was more prevalent in the Aegean islands compared to the mainland. The mass influx of refugees has been linked to disease-related concerns. The search terms “hospital” and “health” have been the most popular and constantly quested topics since the beginning of the economic crisis in Greece, in 2009. Similar trends existed across Europe. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for effective public awareness of current politico-ethical and social-economic conditions. The patterns of public interest can formulate public policy.

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Online popularity of JUUL and Puff Bars in the USA: 2019–2020

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-055727 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-055727 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hongying Dai ◽

Jianqiang Hao

Keyword(s):

Moving Average ◽

Rate Of Change ◽

Online Sales ◽

Enforcement Policy ◽

Search Volume ◽

Tobacco Regulation ◽

The Us ◽

The Usa ◽

Relative Search Volume ◽

Google Search

BackgroundThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a flavour ban on cartridge-based e-cigarettes in January 2020. It is unclear whether e-cigarette users will switch to disposable vaping products with a variety of kids-appealing flavours available.MethodsWe performed piece-wise regression and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) algorithms to compare the relative search volume (RSV) of JUUL and Puff Bar (a disposable vaping product) using the 1-year Google Trends data from 24 February 2019 to 20 February 2020, separated by three events that may have spurred changes in RSV for each product.ResultsThe RSV for JUUL was relatively stable before Trump Administration announced plans to ban flavoured e-cigarettes. After that, the RSV for JUUL dropped sharply (rate of change=−8.8 per week) from 11 September 2019 to 17 October 2019 when JUUL Labs announced to halt online sales of some flavoured products, and the RSV resumed the decreasing trend after FDA announced enforcement policy of cartridge-based e-cigarettes on 2 January 2020. In comparison, the RSV for Puff Bar started to increase after 11 September 2019 with a low rate of change (0.6) until 17 October 2019. After that, the increase in RSV for Puff Bar accelerated. The RSV of puff bars surpassed that of JUUL during the week of 2 February 2020.ConclusionThe popularity of Puff Bar on Google Search suggests that users may replace cartridge-based vaping products with disposable e-cigarettes in the circumvention of the partial flavour ban. Continuous surveillance and further assessment are needed to prevent potential loopholes in tobacco regulation.

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Internet search results correlate with seasonal variation of sarcoidosis

BMC Pulmonary Medicine ◽

10.1186/s12890-021-01602-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Amanda Stanton ◽

Steven J. Katz

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Variation ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Epidemiologic Studies ◽

Google Trends ◽

Medical Diagnoses ◽

Search Terms ◽

Search Volume ◽

Significant Seasonal Variation ◽

Relative Search Volume ◽

Low Prevalence

Abstract Background The etiology and pathophysiology of sarcoidosis remains unclear, with epidemiologic studies limited by its relatively low prevalence. The internet has prompted patients to seek information about medical diagnoses online; Google Trends provides access to an anonymized version of this data, which has a new role in epidemiology. We hypothesize that there is seasonal variation in the relative search interest of sarcoidosis, which would suggest seasonal variation in the incidence of sarcoidosis. Methods Google Trends was used to assess the relative search volume from 2010 to 2020 for “sarcoidosis” and “sarcoid” in 7 countries. ANOVA with multiple comparisons was performed to compare the mean relative search volume by month and by season for each country, with a p-value less than 0.05 indicating statistical significance. Results Our analysis revealed a significant seasonal variation in search popularity in 4 of the 7 countries and in the Northern Hemispheric countries combined. Direct comparison showed search terms to be more popular in spring, specifically March & April, than in the winter. Southern Hemisphere data was not statistically significant but showed a trend towards a nadir in December and a peak in September and October. Conclusions Overall, these findings suggest seasonal variation with a possible peak in spring and nadir in winter. This supports the hypothesis that sarcoidosis has seasonal variation and is more commonly diagnosed in spring, but more evidence is needed to support this, as well as investigation into the pathophysiology of sarcoidosis to explain this phenomenon.

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Using Application Programming Interfaces to Access Google Data for Health Research: Protocol for a Methodological Framework (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.16543 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Anne Zepecki ◽

Sylvia Guendelman ◽

John DeNero ◽

Ndola Prata

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Birth Control ◽

Google Trends ◽

Search Term ◽

Health Trends ◽

Search Queries ◽

Search Volume ◽

Application Programming ◽

Relative Search Volume ◽

Google Search

BACKGROUND Individuals are increasingly turning to search engines like Google to obtain health information and access resources. Analysis of Google search queries offers a novel approach, which is part of the methodological toolkit for infodemiology or infoveillance researchers, to understanding population health concerns and needs in real time or near-real time. While searches predominantly have been examined with the Google Trends website tool, newer application programming interfaces (APIs) are now available to academics to draw a richer landscape of searches. These APIs allow users to write code in languages like Python to retrieve sample data directly from Google servers. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel protocol to determine the top queries, volume of queries, and the top sites reached by a population searching on the web for a specific health term. The protocol retrieves Google search data obtained from three Google APIs: Google Trends, Google Health Trends (also referred to as Flu Trends), and Google Custom Search. METHODS Our protocol consisted of four steps: (1) developing a master list of top search queries for an initial search term using Google Trends, (2) gathering information on relative search volume using Google Health Trends, (3) determining the most popular sites using Google Custom Search, and (4) calculating estimated total search volume. We tested the protocol following key procedures at each step and verified its usefulness by examining search traffic on birth control in 2017 in the United States. Two separate programmers working independently achieved similar results with insignificant variation due to sample variability. RESULTS We successfully tested the methodology on the initial search term birth control. We identified top search queries for birth control, of which birth control pill was the most popular and obtained the relative and estimated total search volume for the top queries: relative search volume was 0.54 for the pill, corresponding to an estimated 9.3-10.7 million searches. We used the estimates of the proportion of search activity for the top queries to arrive at a generated list of the most popular websites: for the pill, the Planned Parenthood website was the top site. CONCLUSIONS The proposed methodological framework demonstrates how to retrieve Google query data from multiple Google APIs and provides thorough documentation required to systematically identify search queries and websites, as well as estimate relative and total search volume of queries in real time or near-real time in specific locations and time periods. Although the protocol needs further testing, it allows researchers to replicate the steps and shows promise in advancing our understanding of population-level health concerns. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR1-10.2196/16543

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Levels of toothache-related interests of Google and YouTube users from developed and developing countries over time

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.7706 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e7706

Author(s):

Matheus Lotto ◽

Patricia E.A. Aguirre ◽

Anna P. Strieder ◽

Agnes F.P. Cruvinel ◽

Thiago Cruvinel

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Web Searches ◽

Search Volume ◽

Internet Users ◽

Education Levels ◽

Health Related ◽

Relative Search Volume ◽

Google Search ◽

Over Time

Background The preferences of Web users can be influenced by distinct factors of populations. Hence, hypothetically, source-based patterns of health-related Web searches might differ between individuals from developed and developing countries, due to their distinct educational, social, economic, political, cultural, and psychosocial backgrounds. In this context, this study aimed to determine the trends of toothache-related searches performed on Google Search and YouTube, regarding differences between developed and developing countries. Methods This retrospective longitudinal study analyzed computational metadata on toothache-related interests of Internet users. Google Trends was accessed to obtain the monthly variation of relative search volume (RSV) of the topic “Toothache-Disease” on Google (G) and YouTube (YT) through 2008–2017. Autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation plots, ARIMA models, Kruskal–Wallis, Dunn’s and T tests were performed for evaluating trends, 12-month forecasts and the differences of annual ratios of YT/G searches between developed and developing countries, respectively (P < 0.05). Results Uptrends of RSVs were observed in both country groups over time, although 12-month forecasts tended to plateau.The volumes of searches were higher in developed countries in comparison to developing ones; however, this difference was not observed regarding Google searches performed between 2016 and 2017. Independently of country groups, the ratios YT/G remained relatively constant throughout the period, indicating a greater interest in toothache-related information available on Google. Conclusion In conclusion, toothache-related searches from Google and YouTube increased during the last decade. The preferences of Web users seemed to be influenced by the differences between developed and developing countries, such as the availability and penetration of the Internet, and education levels.

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What Do Germans Want to Know About Skin Cancer? A Nationwide Google Search Analysis From 2013 to 2017 (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.10327 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Stefanie Seidl ◽

Barbara Schuster ◽

Melvin Rüth ◽

Tilo Biedermann ◽

Alexander Zink

Keyword(s):

Skin Cancer ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer ◽

German Population ◽

White Skin ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

Search Terms ◽

Search Volume ◽

Search Data ◽

Google Search

BACKGROUND Experts worldwide agree that skin cancer is a global health issue, but only a few studies have reported on world populations’ interest in skin cancer. Internet search data can reflect the interest of a population in different topics and thereby identify what the population wants to know. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to assess the interest of the German population in nonmelanoma skin cancer and melanoma. METHODS Google AdWords Keyword Planner was used to identify search terms related to nonmelanoma skin cancer and melanoma in Germany from November 2013 to October 2017. The identified search terms were assessed descriptively using SPSS version 24.0. In addition, the search terms were qualitatively categorized. RESULTS A total of 646 skin cancer-related search terms were identified with 19,849,230 Google searches in the period under review. The search terms with the highest search volume were “skin cancer” (n=2,388,500, 12.03%), “white skin cancer” (n=2,056,900, 10.36%), “basalioma” (n=907,000, 4.57%), and “melanoma” (n=717,800, 3.62%). The most searched localizations of nonmelanoma skin cancer were “nose” (n=93,370, 38.99%) and “face” (n=53,270, 22.24%), and the most searched of melanoma were “nails” (n=46,270, 70.61%) and “eye” (n=10,480, 15.99%). The skin cancer‒related category with the highest search volume was “forms of skin cancer” (n=10,162,540, 23.28%) followed by “skin alterations” (n=4,962,020, 11.36%). CONCLUSIONS Our study provides insight into terms and fields of interest related to skin cancer relevant to the German population. Furthermore, temporal trends and courses are shown. This information could aid in the development and implementation of effective and sustainable awareness campaigns by developing information sources targeted to the population’s broad interest or by implementing new Internet campaigns.

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Gauging public awareness and interest related to pancreatic cancer: An analysis of Google search volumes.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2018.36.4_suppl.250 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (4_suppl) ◽

pp. 250-250

Author(s):

Dhruvika Mukhija ◽

Alok A. Khorana ◽

Davendra Sohal

Keyword(s):

Pancreatic Cancer ◽

Colon Cancer ◽

Public Awareness ◽

P Value ◽

Internet Search ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

Search Terms ◽

Search Volume ◽

News Events ◽

Google Search

250 Background: Over the last 2 decades, the internet has become a major source of medical information. Infoveillance, i.e., public health surveillance using online content analysis has become a powerful tool and internet search activity has been used as a surrogate to gauge public awareness and interest for particular diseases. We aimed to evaluate the search volume for pancreatic cancer (PC), using colon cancer (CC), as a comparator, using data from a popular search engine. Methods: Using Google Trends, a public web facility of Google Inc., based on Google Search, we compared the relative frequency of search terms ‘pancreatic cancer’ and ‘colon cancer’ between 1st January 2004 and 31st August 2017 (n = 164 months). The program assigns a reference value of 100 for the point of maximum popularity from among all the search terms during the search period and provides comparative monthly scores, which we termed relative interest scores (RIS). The RIS for each cancer was then adjusted for incidence (i.e., 53,070 for PC and 95,270 for CC, based on 2016 data), calculated per 10,000 patients and termed ‘i-RIS’. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: For the entire duration, the maximum popularity (RIS = 100) corresponded to a point in March 2008 for PC, likely related to the diagnosis of a famous celebrity during that month. Similar but smaller surges in RIS were observed for other significant news events related to PC during other months (January 2009, October 2009 and October 2011). Overall, the mean (±S.D) RIS for PC and CC were 32.52±8.98 and 50.18±6.44, respectively (p < 0.001). However, the i-RIS was somewhat higher for PC (6.12±1.69) as compared with CC (5.26±0.67) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Internet search data can provide estimates of public awareness and interest related to cancer. For PC, incidence-adjusted search volumes show spikes in search volumes related to major news events, providing internal validation of these results. Generating news items and promotion by celebrities may play a significant role in the success of cancer awareness campaigns.

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Determination of the Popularity of Dietary Supplements Using Google Search Rankings

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12040908 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 908 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mikołaj Kamiński ◽

Matylda Kręgielska-Narożna ◽

Paweł Bogdański

Keyword(s):

Dietary Supplements ◽

Google Trends ◽

Access To Information ◽

Search Volume ◽

Regional Interest ◽

Trends Over Time ◽

Relative Search Volume ◽

Google Search ◽

Over Time

The internet provides access to information about dietary supplements and allows their easy purchase. We aimed to rank the interest of Google users in dietary supplements and to determine the changes that occurred in their popularity from 2004 to 2019. We used Google Trends to generate data over time on regional interest in dietary supplements (n = 200). We categorized each included supplement and calculated the interest in all topics in proportion to the relative search volume (RSV) of “lutein”. We analyzed the trends over time of all topics and categories. Globally, the topics with the highest popularity were “magnesium”, which was 23.72 times more popular than “lutein”, “protein” (15.22 times more popular), and “iron” (15.12). The categories of supplements receiving most interest were protein (9.64), mineral (5.24), and vitamin (3.47). The RSV of seven categories of topics (amino acid, bacterial, botanical, fiber, mineral, protein, and vitamin) increased over time while two categories (enzyme and fat or fatty acid) saw a drop in their RSV. Overall, 119 topics saw an increase in interest over time, 19 remained stable, and 62 saw interest in them decrease. Google Trends provides insights into e-discourse and enables analysis of the differences in popularity of certain topics across countries and over time.

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Dental Challenges and the Needs of the Population during the Covid-19 Pandemic Period. Real-Time Surveillance Using Google Trends

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17238999 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (23) ◽

pp. 8999

Author(s):

Magdalena Sycinska-Dziarnowska ◽

Iwona Paradowska-Stankiewicz

Keyword(s):

Public Interest ◽

Google Trends ◽

Search Terms ◽

Search Volume ◽

The Us ◽

New Challenges ◽

Word Search ◽

Relative Search Volume ◽

The Uk ◽

Dental Needs

Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to changes in the dental needs of the population and new challenges concerning oral health care. Methods: The Google Trends tool was used to collect data on the Internet search interest. The investigated material was collected from 1 January 2020 to 23 August 2020. Search terms “toothache”, “dentist” and “stay at home” were retrieved for the whole world as well as for the US, the UK, Poland, Italy and Sweden. Results: During the lockdown, correlation analysis indicates the lowest public interest in the word “dentist” one week preceding the peak for “toothache”, followed by an increase in the word search for “dentist”. On 12 April, worldwide, the maximum of Google Trends Relative Search Volume (RSV) for “toothache” was observed. Conclusion: Decrease in “dentist” queries during lockdown followed by an increase in “toothache” search predicts greater dental needs in the post-pandemic period. The surveillance shows significant changes in queries for dental-related terms during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to prepare for future pandemic outbreaks teledentistry programs should be taken into consideration.

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Seasonal Variation and Global Public Interest in the Internet Searches for Osteoporosis

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2021/6663559 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Chao Wang ◽

Xiong Shu ◽

Jianfeng Tao ◽

Yanzhuo Zhang ◽

Yue Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Variation ◽

Public Interest ◽

Seasonal Pattern ◽

Late Winter ◽

Search Term ◽

Ibandronic Acid ◽

Search Volume ◽

Significant Seasonal Variation ◽

Relative Search Volume ◽

Google Search

Background. To ascertain the seasonal pattern and global public interest in osteoporosis by evaluating search term popularity changes of the disease over a decade. Methods. We applied Google Trends to retrieve search popularity scores for the term “osteoporosis” between January 01, 2004, and December 31, 2019. Cosinor analyses were conducted to examine the seasonality of osteoporosis, and analysis on osteoporosis-related topics including hot topics and rising-related topics was also performed. Results. The cosinor analyses demonstrated a statistically significant seasonal variation in relative search volume of the “osteoporosis” in the world ( p = 0.0083 ), USA ( p < 0.001 ), UK ( p < 0.001 ), Canada ( p < 0.001 ), Ireland ( p < 0.001 ), Australia ( p < 0.001 ), and New Zealand ( p < 0.001 ), with a peak in the late winter months and trough in the summer months. The peaks in late winter and valley in summer presented an approximately 6-month difference between hemispheres. The top 11 rising topics were denosumab, FRAX, hypocalcaemia, zoledronic acid, ibandronic acid, osteomyelitis, osteopenia, osteoarthritis, bone, calcium, and bone density. Conclusions. Google search query volumes related to osteoporosis follow strong seasonal patterns with late winter peaks and summer troughs. Further studies aimed at elucidating the possible mechanisms behind seasonality in osteoporosis are needed. Moreover, Internet data including the top rising topics may alert physicians to strengthen the propaganda of osteoporosis timely, so as to further promote the development of public health interventions.

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