Google Trends reflect allergic rhinitis symptoms related to birch and grass pollen seasons

Karatzas, Kostas; Papamanolis, Lazaros; Katsifarakis, Nikos; Riga, Marina; Werchan, Barbora; Werchan, Matthias; Berger, Uwe; Bergmann, Karl‐Christian

doi:10.1007/s10453-018-9536-4

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Patients may tend to remember their “hell days” more than their “well days”—leading to recall bias in subjective symptom scores. It has been pointed out that symptom severity is not necessarily directly correlated with the pollen count 90,91 . Next‐generation real‐time pollen monitoring 92 cannot be used throughout Europe and still does not account for individual exposure.…”

Section: Different Aspects Of Placebo Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been pointed out that symptom severity is not necessarily directly correlated with the pollen count. 90,91 Next-generation real-time pollen monitoring 92 are also affected. 93,94 The variable natural history of the disease influences patient preconceptions; when combined with the need for long-term treatment for greater efficacy, these variations can accentuate placebo/nocebo reactions.…”

Section: Environment/disease-related Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Placebo effects in allergen immunotherapy—An EAACI Task Force Position Paper

Pfaar

Agache

Bergmann

et al. 2021

Allergy

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The placebo (Latin “I will please”) effect commonly occurs in clinical trials. The psychological and physiological factors associated with patients’ expectations about a treatment's positive and negative effects have yet to be well characterized, although a functional prefrontal cortex and intense bidirectional communication between the central nervous system and the immune system appear to be prerequisites for a placebo effect. The use of placebo raises certain ethical issues, especially if patients in a placebo group are denied an effective treatment for a long period of time. The placebo effect appears to be relatively large (up to 77%, relative to pretreatment scores) in controlled clinical trials of allergen immunotherapy (AIT), such as the pivotal, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled (DBPC) randomized clinical trials currently required by regulatory authorities worldwide. The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) therefore initiated a Task Force, in order to better understand the placebo effect in AIT and its specific role in comorbidities, blinding issues, adherence, measurement time points, variability and the natural course of the disease. In this Position Paper, the EAACI Task Force highlights several important topics regarding the placebo effect in AIT such as a) regulatory aspects, b) neuroimmunological and psychological mechanisms, c) placebo effect sizes in AIT trials, d) methodological limitations in AIT trial design and e) potential solutions in future AIT trial design. In conclusion, this Position Paper aims to examine the methodological problem of placebo in AIT from different aspects and also to highlight unmet needs and possible solutions for future trials.

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Section: Different Aspects Of Placebo Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Environment/disease-related Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placebo effects in allergen immunotherapy—An EAACI Task Force Position Paper

Pfaar

Agache

Bergmann

et al. 2021

Allergy

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“…Threshold-based definitions require the daily pollen concentration to achieve a particular level and aim to capture the time point at which individuals with moderate pollen sensitization begin manifesting clinical symptoms. One noteworthy threshold-based definition proposed in 2017 by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) ( Pfaar et al, 2017 ) has been validated using mHealth symptom information from individuals in Germany, Austria, France, and Finland ( Karatzas et al, 2018a ; Karatzas et al, 2018b ; Pfaar et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-decade changes in pollen season onset, duration, and intensity: A concern for public health?

Glick

Gehrig

Eeftens

2021

Science of The Total Environment

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Longitudinal shifts in pollen onset, duration, and intensity are public health concerns for the growing number of individuals with pollen sensitization. National analyses of long-term pollen changes are influenced by how a plant's main pollen season (MPS) is defined. Prior Swiss studies have inconsistently applied MPS definitions, leading to heterogeneous conclusions regarding the magnitude, directionality, and significance of multi-decade pollen trends. We examined national pollen data in Switzerland between 1990 and 2020, applying six MPS definitions (2 percentage-based and 4 threshold-based) to twelve relevant allergenic plants. We analyzed changes in pollen season using both linear regression and locally estimated scatterplot smoothing (LOESS). For 4 of the 12 plant species, there is unanimity between definitions regarding earlier onset of pollen season ( p < 0.05), with magnitude of 31-year change dependent on specific MPS definition (hazel: 9–18 days; oak: 5–13 days; grasses: 8–25 days; and nettle/hemp: 6–25 days). There is also consensus ( p < 0.05) for modified MPS duration among hazel (21–104% longer), nettle/hemp (8–52% longer), and ash (18–38% shorter). Between-definition agreement is highest for MPS intensity analysis, with consensus for significant increases in seasonal pollen quantity ( p < 0.05) among hazel, birch, oak, beech, and nettle/hemp. The largest relative intensification is noted for hazel (110–146%) and beech (162–237%). LOESS analysis indicates that these multi-decade pollen changes are typically nonlinear. The robustness of MPS definitions is highly dependent on annual pollen accumulation, with definition choice particularly influential for long-term analysis of low-pollen plants such as ragweed. We identify systematic differences between MPS definitions and suggest future aerobiologic studies apply multiple definitions to minimize bias. In summary, national pollen onset, duration, and intensity have shifted for some plants in Switzerland, with MPS definition choice affecting magnitude and significance of these variations. Future public health research can determine whether these temporal and quantitative pollen changes correlate with longitudinal differences in population pollen sensitization.

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“…The analysis reveals that GT data are highly correlated with the symptom levels and reproduce the peak of the pollen season comparatively well. [ 79 ]…”

Section: Estimation Of the Pollen Seasonmentioning

confidence: 99%

A demonstration project of Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases: Prediction of interactions between air pollution and allergen exposure—the Mobile Airways Sentinel NetworK-Impact of air POLLution on Asthma and Rhinitis approach

Sofiev

Palamarchuk

Bédard

et al. 2020

Chinese Medical Journal

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This review analyzes the state and recent progress in the field of information support for pollen allergy sufferers. For decades, information available for the patients and allergologists consisted of pollen counts, which are vital but insufficient. New technology paves the way to substantial increase in amount and diversity of the data. This paper reviews old and newly suggested methods to predict pollen and air pollutant concentrations in the air and proposes an allergy risk concept, which combines the pollen and pollution information and transforms it into a qualitative risk index. This new index is available in an app (Mobile Airways Sentinel NetworK-air) that was developed in the frame of the European Union grant Impact of Air POLLution on sleep, Asthma and Rhinitis (a project of European Institute of Innovation and Technology-Health). On-going transformation of the pollen allergy information support is based on new technological solutions for pollen and air quality monitoring and predictions. The new information-technology and artificial-intelligence-based solutions help to convert this information into easy-to-use services for both medical practitioners and allergy sufferers.

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Google Trends reflect allergic rhinitis symptoms related to birch and grass pollen seasons

Cited by 16 publications

References 11 publications

Placebo effects in allergen immunotherapy—An EAACI Task Force Position Paper

Placebo effects in allergen immunotherapy—An EAACI Task Force Position Paper

Multi-decade changes in pollen season onset, duration, and intensity: A concern for public health?

A demonstration project of Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases: Prediction of interactions between air pollution and allergen exposure—the Mobile Airways Sentinel NetworK-Impact of air POLLution on Asthma and Rhinitis approach

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