Public interest in rheumatic diseases and rheumatologist in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Google Trends

Abstract

To evaluate the public interest in rheumatic diseases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Google Trends was queried to analyze search trends in the United States for numerous rheumatic diseases and also the interest in a rheumatologist. Three 8-week periods in 2020 ((March 15-May 9), (May 10-July 4), and (July 5-August 29)) were compared to similar periods of the prior 4 years (2016-2019). Compared to a similar time period between 2016 and 2019, a significant decrease was found in the relative search volume for more than half of the search terms during the initial March 15-May 9, 2020 period. However, this trend appeared to reverse during the July 5-August 29, 2020 period where the relative volume for nearly half of the search terms were not statistically significant compared to similar periods of the prior 4 years. In addition, this period showed a significant increase in relative volume for the terms: Axial spondyloarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, antiphospholipid syndrome, scleroderma, Kawasaki disease, Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, and rheumatologist. There was a significant decrease in relative search volume for many rheumatic diseases between March 15 and May 9, 2020 when compared to similar periods during the prior 4 years. However, the trends reversed after the initial period ended. There was an increase in relative search for the term "rheumatologist" between July and August 2020 suggesting the need for rheumatologists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers and healthcare providers should address the informational demands on rheumatic diseases and needs for rheumatologists by the general public during pandemics like COVID-19.

Psychosocial and clinical effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with childhood rheumatic diseases and their parents

“…Additionally, as we have established that COVID-19 symptoms can mimic rheumatic diseases, it is noteworthy that in the treatment of COVID-19 drugs such as steroids, hydroxychloroquine and other such biological agents, which are used in patients with rheumatic disease, are used as well. Thus, there may be an uncertain and complex relationship between rheumatic diseases and COVID-19 [17][18][19]. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the psychological symptoms of children and adolescents with rheumatological diseases and their parents during the outbreak.…”

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

“…In the past few years, it was used to assess trends in several rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis [ 10 ], fibromyalgia [ 11 ], gout [ 12 ], ankylosing spondylitis [ 13 ], and rheumatoid arthritis [ 14 ]. In the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in two intriguing studies we evaluated the public interest in anti-rheumatic drugs [ 15 ] and rheumatic diseases [ 16 ]. In the previous study, we mainly focused on inflammatory, autoimmune, connective tissue/vasculitis diseases because patients with this group of rheumatic diseases may be at a higher risk of acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [ 16 ].…”

Public Interest in Neurological Diseases on Wikipedia during Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic

“…Decrease in interest for other medical conditions and procedures during the coronavirus pandemic, such as rheumatic diseases, otholaryngology and clinical imaging, has been observed [ 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”