An infodemiology study on breast cancer in Iran

Abstract

Purpose According to the studies conducted in Iran, the breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer among women. This study aimed to explore the state of health information supply and demand on breast cancer among Iranian medical researchers and Iranian Web users from 2011 to 2015. Design/methodology/approach A mixed method research is conducted in this study. In qualitative part, a focus group interview is applied to the users to identify their selected keywords searched for breast cancer in Google. The collected data are analyzed using Open Code software. In quantitative part, data are synthesized using the R software in two parts. First, users’ internet information-seeking behavior (ISB) is analyzed using the Google Trends outputs from 2011 to 2015. Second, the scientific publication behavior of Iranian breast cancer specialists are surveyed using PubMed during the period of the study. Findings The results show that the search volume index of preferred keywords on breast cancer has increased from 4,119 in 2011 to 4,772 in 2015. Also, the findings reveal that Iranian scholars had 873 scientific papers on breast cancer in PubMed from 2011 to 2015. There was a significant and positive relationship between Iranian ISB in the Google Trends and SPB of Iranian scholars on breast cancer in PubMed. Research limitations/implications This study investigates only the state of health information supply and demand in PubMed and Google Trends and not additional databases often used for medical studies and treatment. Originality/value This study provides a road map for health policymakers in Iran to direct the breast cancer studies.

What Motivates Internet Users to Search for Asperger Syndrome and Autism on Google?

“…Therefore, health campaigns should use these platforms to reach a wider audience. Regarding the content of websites, it is interesting to analyze the way the internet offers its users the specific content [8,9,28]. Websites can shape ideas about inclusion and disseminate rigorous information or, on the contrary, lack basic content about the diagnosis and its intervention mechanisms [29,30] from searches and information (based on supply and demand, as we will see in the following section).…”

“…The analysis of searches has become a useful method to understand and explain human behavior [31] and discover the population's level of awareness about different conditions such as autism [32]. Understanding search trends and search behavior, as well as the frequency and location of searches in time and space, can be effective for developing public health policies [25,28,33].…”

“…Infodemiology deals with this accurately. Additionally, infodemiology evaluates the content of internet information related to health [31] in order to determine its quality indexes [28]. It has two different and complementary aspects: health information demand and health information supply [33].…”

“…It has two different and complementary aspects: health information demand and health information supply [33]. Some authors [28] conclude that when the supply of researchers-studies-considers the demand of internet users-the most frequent queries and searches-then, the line of inquiry draws closer to the health needs of the population [34]. For this purpose, some studies have used the Google Trends tool [16,26,31].…”

Towards an Effective Tuberculosis Surveillance in Indonesia through Google Trends

“…The search term generation can be carried out in various ways. The study in [37] collects search terms from interviewing respondents who had been stricken with the disease and from consultation with a pathologist. A search term can also be generated from grouping several variables related to the object of research [29] and from related queries found in GT [15] [38].…”