Determining the nutritional immunity information-seeking behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in India: a Google Trends data analysis

Kushwaha, Savitesh; Khanna, Poonam; Jain, Rachita; Srivastava, R. N.

doi:10.1017/s1368980021003232

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…Our research work demonstrates the potential of analyzing user activity collected through Google and GT. Our results concur with those of prior research ( 33 , 36 , 40 , 43 ), and it emphasizes the importance of OHISB evaluation in current days for raising public awareness of specific health issues ( 37 , 40 – 45 ). Furthermore, our study is novel as it evaluates the impact of OHISB on the WDMD considering selected European countries and depending on whether they have NPHs or not, their healthcare system model, and the prevalence of DM among the population.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…In this regard, Google Trends (GT) ( 34 ) is becoming a tool that is raising special interest for probable forecasts and in understanding the interests of the population ( 35 ). Data provided by GT can be used as a “surrogate” of online health information seeking behavior (OHISB) and give useful information on search behaviors related to health or healthy habits ( 33 , 36 – 38 ). Some research examines the association between data provided by internet sources and public health policies ( 39 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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European national health plans and the monitoring of online searches for information on diabetes mellitus in different European healthcare systems

Bosch-Frigola

Coca-Villalba²,

Pérez-Lacasta³

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a serious non-communicable disease (NCD) and relies on the patient being aware of their condition, proactive, and having adequate medical care. European countries healthcare models are aware of the impact of these variables. This study evaluates the impact of online health information seeking behavior (OHISB) during World Diabetes Mellitus Day (WDMD) in European countries from 2014 to 2019 by grouping countries according to the changes in citizens' search behavior, diabetes mellitus prevalence, the existence of National Health Plans (NHP), and their respective healthcare systems. We extracted data from Global Burden of Disease, Google Trends (GT), Public Health European Commission, European Coalition for Diabetes, and the Spanish Ministry of Health. First, we used the broken-line models to analyze significant changes in search trends (GT) in European Union member countries in the 30-day intervals before and after the WDMD (November 14) from 2014 to 2019. Then the results obtained were used in the second phase to group these countries by factor analysis of mixed data (FAMD) using the prevalence of DM, the existence of NHP, and health models in each country. The calculations were processed using R software (gtrendsR, segmented, Factoextra, and FactoMineR). We established changes in search trends before and after WDMD, highlighting unevenness among European countries. However, significant changes were mostly observed among countries with NHP. These changes in search trends, in addition to being significant, were reiterated over time and occurred especially in countries belonging to the Beveridge Model (Portugal, Spain, and Sweden) and with NHPs in place. Greater awareness of diabetes mellitus among the population and continuous improvements in NHP can improve the patients' quality of life, thus impacting in disease management and healthcare expenditure.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

European national health plans and the monitoring of online searches for information on diabetes mellitus in different European healthcare systems

Bosch-Frigola

Coca-Villalba²,

Pérez-Lacasta³

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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“…Our findings that associate increased interest in nutrition with greater diet-nutrition information seeking and more frequent dietary change complement other data from the same time period evidencing unprecedented search-engine query volumes related to diet and nutrition [ 130 , 131 ], paralleled with record-high food supplement sales [ 132 ] and diverging swings in healthier/unhealthier eating practices during home confinements [ 133 , 134 , 135 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Susceptibility to COVID-19 Nutrition Misinformation and Eating Behavior Change during Lockdowns: An International Web-Based Survey

Ruani

Reiß

2023

Nutrients

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To understand the susceptibility to nutrition-health misinformation related to preventing, treating, or mitigating the risk of COVID-19 during the initial lockdowns around the world, the present international web-based survey study (15 April–15 May 2020) gauged participants’ (n = 3707) level of nutrition-health misinformation discernment by presenting them with 25 statements (including unfounded or unproven claims circulated at the time), alongside the influence of information sources of varying quality on the frequency of changes in their eating behavior and the extent of misinformation held, depending on the source used for such changes. Results revealed widespread misinformation about food, eating, and health practices related to COVID-19, with the 25 statements put to participants receiving up to 43% misinformed answers (e.g., ‘It is safe to eat fruits and vegetables that have been washed with soap or diluted bleach’). Whereas higher quality information sources (nutrition scientists, nutrition professionals) had the biggest influence on eating behavior change, we found greater misinformation susceptibility when relying on poor quality sources for changing diet. Appropriate discernment of misinformation was weakest amongst participants who more frequently changed their eating behavior because of information from poor quality sources, suggesting disparities in the health risks/safety of the changes performed.

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“…Compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, RSVs of vitamins, particularly vitamin C, increased significantly after the pandemic outbreak [ 27 ]. Kushwaha and colleagues also found that daily new COVID-19 cases in India were highly correlated to search terms related to immune-related nutrients, including “multivitamin”, “nutrients”, and “vitamin” in different time lag days by using cross-correlation analysis [ 43 ]. In our results, the interests in nutritional supplements were influenced by the time before new COVID-19 cases and deaths occurred.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between interest of nutritional supplements and COVID-19 pandemic - evidence from Google Trends

Lin,

Husnayain,

Chen

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

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Background Due to the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, the interest of nutritional supplements has emerged. Limited data are available on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the search interest in nutritional supplements in Taiwan and worldwide. The study aims to investigate changes in public search interest of nutritional supplements pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Our World in Data dataset was used to collect both global and local (Taiwan) number of COVID-19 newly confirmed cases and deaths. Google Trends search query was being used to obtain relative search volumes (RSVs) covering a timeframe between 2019 to 2022. Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficients were used to measure relationships between confirmed new cases and deaths and RSVs of nutritional supplements. Multivariate analysis was conducted to examine the effect of domestic and global new cases and deaths on the RSVs of nutritional supplements. Results The mean RSVs for nutritional supplements were higher during the COVID-19 pandemic period (between 2020 to 2022) compared to the pre-pandemic period (year of 2019) for both Taiwan and worldwide. In terms of seasonal variations, except for vitamin D, the mean RSVs of probiotics, vitamin B complex, and vitamin C in winter were significantly lower compared to other seasons in Taiwan. The RSVs of nutritional supplements were not only affected by domestic cases and deaths but also by global new cases and deaths. Conclusions The interests in nutritional supplements had substantially increased in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The RSVs of nutritional supplements in Taiwan were not only influenced by global and domestic pandemic severity but also by seasons.

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Determining the nutritional immunity information-seeking behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in India: a Google Trends data analysis

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

European national health plans and the monitoring of online searches for information on diabetes mellitus in different European healthcare systems

European national health plans and the monitoring of online searches for information on diabetes mellitus in different European healthcare systems

Susceptibility to COVID-19 Nutrition Misinformation and Eating Behavior Change during Lockdowns: An International Web-Based Survey

The association between interest of nutritional supplements and COVID-19 pandemic - evidence from Google Trends

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