Use of Google Trends to Track Online Behavior and Interest in Kidney Stone Surgery

Dreher, Paulette; Tong, Carmen; Ghiraldi, Eric; Friedlander, Justin I.

doi:10.1016/j.urology.2018.05.040

Cited by 47 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…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]. GT is also used for forecasting [84], real-time surveillance [85], or prevention [86] of diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Strzelecki

2020

IJERPH

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The Google search engine answers many health and medical information queries every day. People have become used to searching for this type of information. This paper presents a study which examined the visibility of health and medical information websites. The purpose of this study was to find out why Google is decreasing the visibility of such websites and how to measure this decrease. Since August 2018, Google has been more rigorously rating these websites, since they can potentially impact people’s health. The method of the study was to collect data about the visibility of health and medical information websites in sequential time snapshots. Visibility consists of combined data of unique keywords, positions, and URL results. The sample under study was made up of 21 websites selected from 10 European countries. The findings reveal that in sequential time snapshots, search visibility decreased. The decrease was not dependent on the country or the language. The main reason why Google is decreasing the visibility of such websites is that they do not meet high ranking criteria.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Strzelecki

2020

IJERPH

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“…More recently in 2018, Dreher et al. examined online interest in kidney stone surgery. The authors found that shockwave lithotripsy was the most frequently searched kidney stone procedure, while laser lithotripsy was the least searched.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Dr Google’: trends in online interest in prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment

Rezaee

Goddard²,

Sverrisson

et al. 2019

BJU International

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Objectives To examine trends in online search behaviours related to prostate cancer on a national and regional scale using a dominant major search engine. Materials and Methods Google Trends was queried using the terms ‘prostate cancer’, ‘prostate‐specific antigen’ (PSA), and ‘prostate biopsy’ between January 2004 and January 2019. Search volume index (SVI), a measure of relative search volume on Google, was obtained for all terms and examined by region and time period: pre‐US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Grade D draft recommendation on PSA screening; during the active Grade D recommendation; and after publication of the recent Grade C draft recommendation. Results Online interest in PSA screening differed by time period (P < 0.01). The SVI for PSA screening was greater pre‐Grade D draft recommendation (82.7) compared to during the recommendation (74.5), while the SVI for PSA screening was higher post‐Grade C draft recommendation (90.4) compared to both prior time periods. Similar results were observed for prostate biopsy and prostate cancer searches. At the US state level, online interest in prostate cancer was highest in South Carolina (SVI 100) and lowest in Hawaii (SVI 64). For prostate cancer treatment options, online interest in cryotherapy, prostatectomy and prostate cancer surgery overall increased, while searches for active surveillance, external beam radiation, brachytherapy and high‐intensity focused ultrasonography remained stable. Conclusion Online interest in prostate cancer has changed over time, particularly in accordance with USPSTF screening guidelines. Google Trends may be a useful tool in tracking public interest in prostate cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment, especially as it relates to major shifts in practice guidelines.

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“…In 2019, just ten percent of US adults reported that they did not use the internet [ 7 ]. Just recently, online strategies and internet trend search gathering tools have been developed to provide useful information for monitoring global and regional health seeking behaviour patterns, epidemiology, aetiology and treatment of various medical conditions, including urolithiasis [ 8 ]. Google Trends (GT) is one of the most important of these tools, in which internet queries are catalogued and this indexed information is available to the public.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Google Trends (GT) is one of the most important of these tools, in which internet queries are catalogued and this indexed information is available to the public. The big data database provided by GT can reveal patterns in health information-seeking behaviour on a population level, allowing development of target information to the public [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding urologic scientific publication patterns and general public interests on stone disease: lessons learned from big data platforms

et al. 2020

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Purpose To analyse patterns of stone disease online information-seeking behaviours in the United States and to correlate with urological literature publication aspects. Methods To compare Relative Search Volume (RSV) among different twelve preselected urologic keywords we chose “United States” as country and “01/01/2009–31/12/2018” as time range on Google Trends (GT). We defined “ureteroscopy” as a reference and compared RSV against it for each term. RSV was adjusted and normalized in a scale 0–100. Trend presence was evaluated by Mann–Kendall Test and magnitude by Sen’s Slope Estimator (SS). Weather influence on RSV was also investigated by comparison of the ten hottest versus ten coldest states. Pearson correlation analysis was performed between number of Pubmed publications and RSV for each term over time. Results We found an upward tendency ( p < 0.01) for most terms. Higher temporal trends were seen for “kidney stone” (SS = 0.36), “kidney pain” (SS = 0.39) and “tamsulosin” (SS = 0.21). Technical treatment terms had little search volumes and no increasing trend. States with hotter weather showed higher mean RSV for “kidney stone” than colder ones. There was little correlation between GT and Pubmed for most terms, with the exception of “kidney stone” ( R = 0.89; p < 0.01), “URS” ( R = 0.81; p < 0.01), and “laser lithotripsy” ( R = 0.74; p = 0.01). Conclusion There was a significant increase in online search for medical information related to stone disease. Citizens tend to look for generic terms related to symptoms or the disease itself. States with hotter weather show higher RSV than colder states. There is a discrepancy between public and medical community medical terms. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00345-020-03477-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Use of Google Trends to Track Online Behavior and Interest in Kidney Stone Surgery

Cited by 47 publications

References 14 publications

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

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

‘Dr Google’: trends in online interest in prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment

Understanding urologic scientific publication patterns and general public interests on stone disease: lessons learned from big data platforms

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