Public interest in dermatologic symptoms, conditions, treatments, and procedures during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Insights from Google Trends

Esen-Salman, Kübra; Akın-Çakıcı, Özlem; Kardeş, Sinan; Salman, Andaç

doi:10.1111/dth.14895

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…On this scale, 100 indicates the maximum popularity for the search query, and others indicate a percentage of it. For example, a score of 60 indicates a 60% of the maximum popularity for the search query [20,21]. We determined a broad spectrum of search queries corresponding to general musculoskeletal symptoms (e.g.…”

Section: Google Search Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Public interest in musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021

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Objective The goal was to assess public interest in a wide range of musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods We searched Google Trends for 118 search queries within the United States. We compared two timeframes of 2020 (March 15–July 4 and July 5–October 31) to similar timeframes over the four prior years (2016–2019). Results In the early pandemic, March 15–July 4, a statistically significant decrease in relative search volume of the majority of queries (60%) was detected, with a significant increase in only 2 queries (i.e. myalgia and toe swelling). In the phase July through October, a statistically significant decrease was detected in only 22% of search queries; there was no difference for 60% of search queries between 2020 and 2016–2019 suggesting a return to their prior levels for most of search queries. Interestingly, the search volume of 18% of search queries (i.e. fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, myalgia, spondylosis, radiculopathy, myelopathy, neck pain, neck strain, lower back strain, sciatica, shoulder pain, frozen shoulder, elbow pain, lateral epicondylitis, wrist pain, carpal tunnel, hand pain, finger pain, trigger finger, and Morton’s neuroma) was significantly increased compared with the four prior years. Conclusion Public interest focused on COVID-19 and sought online information for COVID-19 symptoms in the early pandemic. In the period July through October, there was an upward trend in musculoskeletal symptoms and some colloquial terms/well-known musculoskeletal conditions coupled with a downward trend in general musculoskeletal disorder terms and certain specific diagnoses. This information may help rheumatologists understand public interest in musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders and address the needs of patients to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on outcomes. Supplementary Information The online version of this article (10.1007/s00393-021-00989-2) includes Table 1. Article and supplementary material are available at www.springermedizin.de . Please enter the title of the article in the search field, the supplementary material can be found under “Ergänzende Inhalte”.

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Section: Google Search Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Public interest in musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021

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“…Recently Google Trends is widely employed as epidemiologic datasets yielding insights into people’s behavior and interests (Mavragani and Ochoa 2019 ). Also in the COVID-19 era, this dataset had been applied to predict the pandemic (Lippi et al 2020 ), to examine psychological burdens during the pandemic (Rotter et al 2021 ), and to assess peoples’ interest in various health topics, such as rheumatology (Kardeş et al 2020 , 2021a , 2021b ), dermatology (Kutlu 2020 ; Esen-Salman et al 2021 ), pediatric neurosurgery (Güdük et al 2021 ), and alternative medicine (Rokhmah et al 2020 ). A previous study investigated modifications of Google Trends data related to interest in balneotherapy in pandemic period, considering only the Turkish population (Kardeş 2021a ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Italian and Japanese public attention toward balneotherapy in the COVID-19 era

Maccarone

Kamioka

Cheleschi

et al. 2021

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Italian and Japanese public widely use balneotherapy. The population interest in balneotherapy in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) era should be investigated. Therefore, we aimed to exploit Google Trends analysis, as a measure of peoples’ interest in balneotherapy, in two countries, Italy and Japan. In this infodemiology study, Google Trends was queried for the lay terms widely used by the Italian population to refer to the balneotherapy setting (terme + termale) and by the Japanese to refer to the bathing place and balneotherapy facilities (温泉 + スパ). The internet searches in 2020 were compared to overlapping time spans in 2016–2019 and were correlated with new confirmed cases/deaths. This study demonstrated that from February 23 to June 20, 2020, and from October 4 to December 26, 2020, the internet searches of the Italian words corresponding to balneotherapy were statistically significantly decreased; however, the internet searches were not significantly different in June 21 to October 3, 2020, compared to overlapping time spans in 2016–2019 in Italy. The study also showed that from March 15 to September 5, 2020, and from November 29 to December 26, 2020, the internet searches of the Japanese words corresponding to balneotherapy were statistically significantly decreased; however, the internet searches were significantly increased in September 13 to November 7, 2020, and were not significantly different in November 8 to 28, 2020, compared to overlapping time spans in 2016–2019 in Japan. There were significant negative correlations between the relative search volume and number of new cases (rho=−0.634; p<0.001)/deaths (rho=−0.856; p<0.001) in Italy and the number of new deaths (rho=−0.348; p=0.012) in Japan. Population interest in balneotherapy has changed in the COVID-19 era both in Italy and Japan. During the early stage of pandemic (March to June), the interest was lower. After this early stage, the interest showed a recovery in both countries. In Italy, the population interest reached to its prior levels in late June through early October, with a peak in August. In Japan, the recovery exceeded the prior 4-year levels in mid-September through early November. Then, both countries demonstrated a decline in interest: began in early October in Italy and late November in Japan. This information would allow us to understand/address the population response in the pandemic in respect of the balneotherapy and would guide the preparedness of healthcare providers and planners both in this pandemic and future similar situations.

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“…Previous studies using Google Trends showed that in this initial period the relative search volume of COVID-19 terms (e.g., coronavirus), COVID-19 symptoms (e.g., cough, diarrhea, and loss of smell) and some mental health issues (e.g., anxiety) increased but the relative search volume of general health issues (e.g., dermatologic conditions and rheumatic diseases) decreased [ 13 – 16 , 27 – 34 ]. We believe that our finding (no difference) in the initial period is important considering the previous studies’ results that showed a significant decrease in general health issues reflecting a shift of public interest from general health issues to COVID-19 [ 32 – 34 ]. Therefore, our finding indicates that the public remarkably searched for bruxism and its symptoms in the initial pandemic period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Google searches for bruxism, teeth grinding, and teeth clenching during the COVID-19 pandemic

Kardeş¹,

Kardeş

2021

J Orofac Orthop

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Purpose Whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has an impact on bruxism represents an important gap of knowledge. This study evaluated the trends in Google searches, as an indication of public interest and demand, for bruxism and its symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Google Trends was queried for bruxism, teeth grinding, and teeth clenching both worldwide and in the United States. Two periods in 2020 (March 15–May 9 and May 10–October 17) were compared to similar periods of 2016–2019 to investigate both initial and short-term interest. Results The relative search volume of bruxism, teeth grinding, and teeth clenching was not significantly different between 2020 and 2016–2019 worldwide or in the United States in the March 15–May 9 period. Only the search for teeth grinding showed an increase worldwide. In the May 10–October 17 period, the relative search volume of bruxism, teeth grinding, and teeth clenching all was significantly higher in 2020 compared to 2016–2019 both worldwide and in the United States. Conclusion The study showed that the relative search volume for bruxism, teeth grinding, and teeth clenching, as an indication of public interest and demand, was increased both worldwide and in the United States during the May–October 2020 period compared to similar periods of the previous 4 years. Dentists should address this increased public interest and demand for information seeking for bruxism. Follow-up studies monitoring long-term interest as a real-time surveillance and evaluating whether increased internet searches are linked to an actual increase or worsening of bruxism and its symptoms in the clinic are required.

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Public interest in dermatologic symptoms, conditions, treatments, and procedures during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Insights from Google Trends

Cited by 15 publications

References 35 publications

Public interest in musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic

Public interest in musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic

Italian and Japanese public attention toward balneotherapy in the COVID-19 era

Google searches for bruxism, teeth grinding, and teeth clenching during the COVID-19 pandemic

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