Utilizing Google Trends to Assess Worldwide Interest in Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Commonly Associated Treatments

Utilizing Google Trends to Assess Worldwide Interest in COVID-19 and Myocarditis

“…Google trends measures "popularity" or "interest" of a particular search query in relative search volume (RSV). RSV can be measured in two ways [5]: first is the popularity of a search term in a given week relative to other weeks in the mentioned time period within a geographic region. The most popular week has a RSV of 100 and all other weeks are reported relative to the most popular week on a scale from 0 to 99.…”

Increased Internet Search Interest for GI Symptoms May Predict COVID-19 Cases in US Hotspots

“…While not an epidemiological tool for determining incidence, it can estimate the popularity of a certain disease by search volume over time. 1 , 2 It has previously correlated well with infectious disease incidence and has demonstrated utility in disease forecasting, especially with influenza data. 3 We utilized Google Trends to investigate whether search interest in common gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms would correlate with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) incidence data.…”

Now Trending: Using Google Trends to Complement Traditional Epidemiological Methods Used for IBS Research

“…To begin filling these gaps in knowledge, Flanagan et al [7] in this issue of Digestive Diseases and Sciences describe their use of Google Trends, a publicly available, open-access analytic tool provided by Google, to explore worldwide trends in Google-based searches for IBS and related IBS therapies. The metadata provided by Google Trends is structured to facilitate time-based series and country-based analyses.…”

“…Yet, the RSV metric does not reflect absolute values in search volumes. Indeed, Flanagan et al report that there is poor correlation of RSV values with prior estimates of IBS prevalence [7]. This is an important finding that certainly gives one pause in recognizing the limitations of using Google Trends for all epidemiological research.…”

“…Of note, there appears to be substantial interest for non-pharmacological approaches to IBS treatment, including dietary interventions (low FODMAP and gluten-free diets) and psychological interventions (cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT] and hypnotherapy). Flanagan et al report that interest in psychological interventions appears to be fairly stable between 2014 and 2018, with interest in low FODMAP diets increasing substantially over this time (up 117%) [7]. Perhaps the latter finding is not surprising, given that use of the low FODMAP diet for IBS occurred only over the last several years.…”