Disease Monitoring and Health Campaign Evaluation Using Google Search Activities for HIV and AIDS, Stroke, Colorectal Cancer, and Marijuana Use in Canada: A Retrospective Observational Study

Abstract

BackgroundInfodemiology can offer practical and feasible health research applications through the practice of studying information available on the Web. Google Trends provides publicly accessible information regarding search behaviors in a population, which may be studied and used for health campaign evaluation and disease monitoring. Additional studies examining the use and effectiveness of Google Trends for these purposes remain warranted.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to explore the use of infodemiology in the context of health campaign evaluation and chronic disease monitoring. It was hypothesized that following a launch of a campaign, there would be an increase in information seeking behavior on the Web. Second, increasing and decreasing disease patterns in a population would be associated with search activity patterns. This study examined 4 different diseases: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, stroke, colorectal cancer, and marijuana use.MethodsUsing Google Trends, relative search volume data were collected throughout the period of February 2004 to January 2015. Campaign information and disease statistics were obtained from governmental publications. Search activity trends were graphed and assessed with disease trends and the campaign interval. Pearson product correlation statistics and joinpoint methodology analyses were used to determine significance.ResultsDisease patterns and online activity across all 4 diseases were significantly correlated: HIV infection (r=.36, P<.001), stroke (r=.40, P<.001), colorectal cancer (r= −.41, P<.001), and substance use (r=.64, P<.001). Visual inspection and the joinpoint analysis showed significant correlations for the campaigns on colorectal cancer and marijuana use in stimulating search activity. No significant correlations were observed for the campaigns on stroke and HIV regarding search activity.ConclusionsThe use of infoveillance shows promise as an alternative and inexpensive solution to disease surveillance and health campaign evaluation. Further research is needed to understand Google Trends as a valid and reliable tool for health research.

Google Medical Update: Why Is the Search Engine Decreasing Visibility of Health and Medical Information Websites?

“…Some researchers studied mental health [53] and depression [54] queries. Other topics studied using GT data are skin cancer [55], sunscreen use [56], sunburn [57], seasonality of bruxism [58], multiple sclerosis [59], cancer [60], stroke [61], HIV [62], lupus [63], norovirus [64], sepsis [65], pertussis [66], epistaxis [67], plague [68], rheumatoid arthritis [69], and prostate cancer [70]. In terms of general population behavior, research was done using GT data on pharmaceutical data [71], vaccinations [72], movement disorders [73], digital epidemiology [74], kidney stone surgery [75], foot and ankle pain [76], knee injuries [77], osteoarthritis [78], seasonality of cellulitis [79], tracking influenza epidemics using climate data [80], palliative care [81], cosmetic body procedures [82], and anesthesia [83].…”

Effectivity of Awareness Months in Increasing Internet Search Activity for Top Malignancies Among Women

“…In a recent article, Ling et al hypothesized that following the launch of a campaign for a medical condition, information seeking behavior pertaining to the condition would increase as well [ 1 ]. They used data from Google Trends (Google Inc., CA) on 4 different diseases (including Colon Cancer) to conclude that the use of infoveillance (type of public health surveillance based on online content analysis),shows promise as an alternative and inexpensive solution for disease surveillance and health care campaign evaluation.…”

“…Reasons behind the success of the BC awareness campaign in driving internet search activity should be further explored and applied to those for other malignancies such as LC and CRC, which also continue to have high mortality. Therefore, as highlighted by Ling et al [ 1 ], the use of infoveillance can serve as a cost-effective solution to evaluate the effects of health campaigns. However, further research is needed to definitively establish Google Trends as a valid and reliable tool for this purpose.…”

What, where and when? Using Google Trends and Google to investigate patient needs and inform pharmacy practice

“…Google Trends has been used for various purposes such as ascertaining trends of substance and illegal drug use and forecasting associated premature deaths, exploring awareness about medical conditions, and for surveillance and prediction of infectious diseases such as influenza and dengue fever . Additionally, other experts have used Google to examine mental health issues such as suicide likelihood, assess the quality of patient information and guidance available on the Internet, to detect Internet search activity for particular conditions and the impact of public health campaigns …”

“…[5][6][7][8] Additionally, other experts have used Google to examine mental health issues such as suicide likelihood, [9] assess the quality of patient information and guidance available on the Internet, [10] to detect Internet search activity for particular conditions [11] and the impact of public health campaigns. [12] The aim of this work was to provide a comprehensive overview (using pertinent examples) of the various ways that Google and Google Trends data can inform pharmacy practice. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such study.…”