The Application of Internet-Based Sources for Public Health Surveillance (Infoveillance): Systematic Review

Abstract

Background Public health surveillance is based on the continuous and systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. This informs the development of early warning systems to monitor epidemics and documents the impact of intervention measures. The introduction of digital data sources, and specifically sources available on the internet, has impacted the field of public health surveillance. New opportunities enabled by the underlying availability and scale of internet-based sources (IBSs) have paved the way for novel approaches for disease surveillance, exploration of health communities, and the study of epidemic dynamics. This field and approach is also known as infodemiology or infoveillance. Objective This review aimed to assess research findings regarding the application of IBSs for public health surveillance (infodemiology or infoveillance). To achieve this, we have presented a comprehensive systematic literature review with a focus on these sources and their limitations, the diseases targeted, and commonly applied methods. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted targeting publications between 2012 and 2018 that leveraged IBSs for public health surveillance, outbreak forecasting, disease characterization, diagnosis prediction, content analysis, and health-topic identification. The search results were filtered according to previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results Spanning a total of 162 publications, we determined infectious diseases to be the preferred case study (108/162, 66.7%). Of the eight categories of IBSs (search queries, social media, news, discussion forums, websites, web encyclopedia, and online obituaries), search queries and social media were applied in 95.1% (154/162) of the reviewed publications. We also identified limitations in representativeness and biased user age groups, as well as high susceptibility to media events by search queries, social media, and web encyclopedias. Conclusions IBSs are a valuable proxy to study illnesses affecting the general population; however, it is important to characterize which diseases are best suited for the available sources; the literature shows that the level of engagement among online platforms can be a potential indicator. There is a necessity to understand the population’s online behavior; in addition, the exploration of health information dissemination and its content is significantly unexplored. With this information, we can understand how the population communicates about illnesses online and, in the process, benefit public health.

Online Public Attention During the Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Infoveillance Study Based on Baidu Index

“…In brief, internet search data can be used for monitoring and early warning of public health emergencies, including the BDI used in this study and Google Trends used in other related studies. Thus, it can be said that internet search data supplements the government statistics official data lag [ 8 ].…”

“…The early effect compared to new cases suggested that the BDI can be used as a sentinel in online infoveillance systems for infectious diseases and public health emergencies. The correlation analysis used in this study is the most common form of data monitoring, which is regularly applied to determine the relationship between internet-based and real-world data [ 8 ]. Gu et al [ 30 ] found that the erythromelalgia epidemic search index showed the uptrend about a week ahead of the official report because of the delayed reports from the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention.…”

“…Existing online search data is a voluntary expression of the public, reflecting public attention and needs; compared with the traditional survey data, it has greater timeliness, objectivity, and credibility [ 4 - 7 ]. Search engines, as the representative of internet-based sources, have been proven to detect the initial evidence of an epidemic [ 8 ]. Internet-based technology provides essential benefits for improving the transparency of epidemic reporting and complementing the traditional surveillance, enabling health institutions to respond quickly in a targeted manner, thereby reducing morbidity, mortality, and disease outbreaks [ 8 - 11 ].…”

“…Search engines, as the representative of internet-based sources, have been proven to detect the initial evidence of an epidemic [ 8 ]. Internet-based technology provides essential benefits for improving the transparency of epidemic reporting and complementing the traditional surveillance, enabling health institutions to respond quickly in a targeted manner, thereby reducing morbidity, mortality, and disease outbreaks [ 8 - 11 ]. Many studies have shown that the internet search engine, as a monitoring platform for public concern in public health emergencies, has become an “outpost” for early warning of the epidemic.…”

The use of internet analytics by a Canadian provincial chiropractic regulator to monitor, evaluate and remediate misleading claims regarding specific health conditions, pregnancy, and COVID-19

“…One such solution is technology that searches specific websites and social media accounts. This technology can be modified to proactively monitor activity then allow regulatory bodies to construct timely interventions [18,19]. While this approach is still evolving in many sectors, proactive monitoring has been used effectively within law enforcement to monitor and detect illegal activity on the internet for decades and continues to be recommended [20][21][22].…”