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Google Trends' (a) top related queries, (b) rising related topics, (c) top related topics, and (d) rising related queries for "Asthma" in the United States from Jan 1, 2004, to Dec 31, 2014.
Source publication
Internet data are being increasingly integrated into health informatics research and are becoming a useful tool for exploring human behavior. The most popular tool for examining online behavior is Google Trends, an open tool that provides information on trends and the variations of online interest in selected keywords and topics over time. Online s...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... the relative search volumes, and the interest heat maps, Google Trends also shows and allows one to download .csv files of (1) the "Top related queries", defined as "Top searches are terms that are most frequently searched with the term you entered in the same search session, within the chosen category, country, or region" ( Figure 3a); (2) the "Rising related queries", defined as "terms that were searched for with the keyword you entered...which had the most significant growth in volume in the requested time period" ( Figure 1. Graphs of the variations in the online interest for the examined terms over the selected time frame in Google Trends. ...
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Citations
... These studies underscore the potential of leveraging digital platforms to explore climate-related mental health concerns. Moreover, platforms like Google Trends enable real-time monitoring of public interests and sentiments (Mavragani & Ochoa, 2019), possibly assisting disaster mental health workers and responders to track evolving concerns that may be challenging to capture through traditional surveys in the aftermath of climate-related events. Furthermore, the emergence of forecasting models utilizing data from these platforms allows for the prediction of public concerns and interests (Mavragani & Ochoa, 2019), possibly facilitating the anticipation of future demands for mental health services and promotion activities in areas affected by extreme weather events, such as typhoons and droughts in the Philippines. ...
... Moreover, platforms like Google Trends enable real-time monitoring of public interests and sentiments (Mavragani & Ochoa, 2019), possibly assisting disaster mental health workers and responders to track evolving concerns that may be challenging to capture through traditional surveys in the aftermath of climate-related events. Furthermore, the emergence of forecasting models utilizing data from these platforms allows for the prediction of public concerns and interests (Mavragani & Ochoa, 2019), possibly facilitating the anticipation of future demands for mental health services and promotion activities in areas affected by extreme weather events, such as typhoons and droughts in the Philippines. For instance, by utilizing the leading queries and topics searched by the population, mental health workers can potentially provide a more targeted response adjusted to leading public concerns in the aftermath of climate-related events (Kam et al., 2019). ...
... More than 70 percent of people in the United States seek health information mainly through the internet, which is growing (19). New search tools and technologies in digital health are emerging to advance healthcare research (15,20). Specifically, online channels can be one of the ways to access digital health information. ...
... This predictability is especially evident in specific terms or topics that exhibit regular fluctuations at certain periods throughout the year, with health-related subjects standing out for their high proportion of predictable inquiries. Therefore, with this publicly accessible tool, researchers can interact with the vast amounts of population search data and provide inferences between population behavior and health-related phenomena (18,20). This capability offers a powerful lens through which to understand and address various health-related issues and trends within communities and populations. ...
... Google Trends accounts for variations in accents, spellings, and whether terms are in plural or singular forms, treating them as different (20), so a series of the same terms was used as the same topic. Regarding search input, users can search for multiple terms by combining them with "+" signs and can use quotation marks to indicate exact search phrases (41). ...
Introduction
Ticks and pathogens they carry seriously impact human and animal health, with some diseases like Lyme and Alpha-gal syndrome posing risks. Searching for health information online can change people’s health and preventive behaviors, allowing them to face the tick risks. This study aimed to predict the potential risks of tickborne diseases by examining individuals’ online search behavior.
Methods
By scrutinizing the search trends across various geographical areas and timeframes within the United States, we determined outdoor activities associated with potential risks of tick-related diseases. Google Trends was used as the data collection and analysis tool due to its accessibility to big data on people’s online searching behaviors. We interact with vast amounts of population search data and provide inferences between population behavior and health-related phenomena. Data were collected in the United States from April 2022 to March 2023, with some terms about outdoor activities and tick risks.
Results and Discussion
Results highlighted the public’s risk susceptibility and severity when participating in activities. Our results found that searches for terms related to tick risk were associated with the five-year average Lyme Disease incidence rates by state, reflecting the predictability of online health searching for tickborne disease risks. Geographically, the results revealed that the states with the highest relative search volumes for tick-related terms were predominantly located in the Eastern region. Periodically, terms can be found to have higher search records during summer. In addition, the results showed that terms related to outdoor activities, such as “corn maze,” “hunting,” “u-pick,” and “park,” have moderate associations with tick-related terms. This study provided recommendations for effective communication strategies to encourage the public’s adoption of health-promoting behaviors. Displaying warnings in the online search results of individuals who are at high risk for tick exposure or collaborating with outdoor activity locations to disseminate physical preventive messages may help mitigate the risks associated with tickborne diseases.
... The numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the selected region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term, while a value of 50 means that the term is half as popular [57][58][59]. In the present study, the data obtained from the Google Trends Tool were analyzed considering peoples' interest in searching for information about GLP-1 RAs. ...
Some glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), first used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), have been approved for the treatment of obesity in patients with or without T2DM (liraglutide—LIR, semaglutide—SEM, and tirzepatide—TIR). Social media had an important influence on the off-label use of GLP-1 RAs for obesity, especially for SEM. We analyzed the Google queries related to SEM to assess people’s interest in this drug. We also investigated the occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) by searching the EudraVigilance database (EV) for Individual Case Safety Reports (ICSRs) that reported SEM as the suspected drug and performed a descriptive and a disproportionality analysis. The data obtained for SEM were compared to other GLP-1 RAs. SEM had the highest proportions of searches on Google associated with the term “weight loss” and presented the lowest number of severe ADRs, but it also had the highest number of ICSRs reported in EV. Even though no unexpected safety issues have been reported for it until now, SEM has a hi3gh tendency for overdose reports. The most frequent off-label use was reported for SEM and TIR. In order to lower the risks of ADRs, the off-label use should be reduced and carefully monitored.
... Google Trends provides open access to time-series data related to Google searches for specific terms and topics [33]. According to the framework proposed by Mavragani and Ochoa [34], we retrieved Google Trends data separately by using the search topics "telemedicine" or "e-health," encompassing all search categories. We queried Google Trends on March 9, 2023, and Google Trends data were obtained at the global level, as well as by country, for the period between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2022. ...
... We queried Google Trends on March 9, 2023, and Google Trends data were obtained at the global level, as well as by country, for the period between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2022. It is worth mentioning that search topics are a group of terms that share the same concept across languages, covering an array of variations, typos, and related searches [34,35]. This precludes the need to enter a set of individual keywords, while maintaining the consistency of search queries across all regions and timeframes [34,35]. ...
... It is worth mentioning that search topics are a group of terms that share the same concept across languages, covering an array of variations, typos, and related searches [34,35]. This precludes the need to enter a set of individual keywords, while maintaining the consistency of search queries across all regions and timeframes [34,35]. Furthermore, using specific search topics without any search category restrictions proves beneficial for capturing the general interest of diverse populations [34,35]. ...
Background
Telemedicine offers a multitude of potential advantages, such as enhanced health care accessibility, cost reduction, and improved patient outcomes. The significance of telemedicine has been underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, as it plays a crucial role in maintaining uninterrupted care while minimizing the risk of viral exposure. However, the adoption and implementation of telemedicine have been relatively sluggish in certain areas. Assessing the level of interest in telemedicine can provide valuable insights into areas that require enhancement.
Objective
The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the level of public and research interest in telemedicine from 2017 to 2022 and also consider any potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
Google Trends data were retrieved using the search topics “telemedicine” or “e-health” to assess public interest, geographic distribution, and trends through a joinpoint regression analysis. Bibliographic data from Scopus were used to chart publications referencing the terms “telemedicine” or “eHealth” (in the title, abstract, and keywords) in terms of scientific production, key countries, and prominent keywords, as well as collaboration and co-occurrence networks.
Results
Worldwide, telemedicine generated higher mean public interest (relative search volume=26.3%) compared to eHealth (relative search volume=17.6%). Interest in telemedicine remained stable until January 2020, experienced a sudden surge (monthly percent change=95.7%) peaking in April 2020, followed by a decline (monthly percent change=–22.7%) until August 2020, and then returned to stability. A similar trend was noted in the public interest regarding eHealth. Chile, Australia, Canada, and the United States had the greatest public interest in telemedicine. In these countries, moderate to strong correlations were evident between Google Trends and COVID-19 data (ie, new cases, new deaths, and hospitalized patients). Examining 19,539 original medical articles in the Scopus database unveiled a substantial rise in telemedicine-related publications, showing a total increase of 201.5% from 2017 to 2022 and an average annual growth rate of 24.7%. The most significant surge occurred between 2019 and 2020. Notably, the majority of the publications originated from a single country, with 20.8% involving international coauthorships. As the most productive country, the United States led a cluster that included Canada and Australia as well. European, Asian, and Latin American countries made up the remaining 3 clusters. The co-occurrence network categorized prevalent keywords into 2 clusters, the first cluster primarily focused on applying eHealth, mobile health (mHealth), or digital health to noncommunicable or chronic diseases; the second cluster was centered around the application of telemedicine and telehealth within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusions
Our analysis of search and bibliographic data over time and across regions allows us to gauge the interest in this topic, offer evidence regarding potential applications, and pinpoint areas for additional research and awareness-raising initiatives.
... The authors followed the analytical framework proposed by Mavragani and Ochoa [20] to examine the search interest for the designated terms using Google Trends. The keyword "siyanür" was chosen, with "Türkiye" selected as the region and "1/1/2017-12/31/2021" set as the custom time range, aligning xx with the period analyzed in the newspaper study. ...
Objectives: This paper focuses on the intentional deaths by cyanide that occurred in Turkey and aims to discuss the effect of internet and the media on these cases. Methods: Five highly circulated daily newspapers were selected and the term “siyanür”, which means “cyanide” in Turkish, were searched within their online search function between 2017-2021. A Google Trends analysis was performed with “siyanür+siyanur” as the keyword, “Turkey” as the region, and “1/1/2017-12/31/2021” as the custom time range. Results: Twenty different incidents and news reports of cyanide related suicides and/or homicides with 29 total deaths were found. In Google Trends analysis, seven out of total 8 periods of increased search interest coincided with the news reports related to cyanide deaths. Conclusions: The authors observed a surge in cyanide-related incidents following a highly publicized case in May 2019, with a peak in November 2019. The study highlights the influence of media coverage on subsequent incidents, with newspapers often using sensational headlines and providing detailed information on suicide methods. Reporting a news article on suicide requires great care and caution. Thus, the guidelines on reporting suicide related news should be implemented nationwide with a collaboration between media professionals and health-care experts.
... The use of electronic platforms for behavioral monitoring allows for real-time assessment of human behavior and can trigger an alert if measured behavior deviates from healthy norms [14,15]. Additionally, these platforms enable the collection of large amounts of high-frequency, high-dimensional continuous data, which can be used to identify typical multidimensional behavior features over an extended period based on naturalistic situations [16,17]. The growing body of literature leveraging behavioral monitoring for depression prediction has gained traction, spurred by the profound shifts in lifestyle behavior patterns, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic [18][19][20]. ...
Background
Depression is often accompanied by changes in behavior, including dietary behaviors. The relationship between dietary behaviors and depression has been widely studied, yet previous research has relied on self-reported data which is subject to recall bias. Electronic device–based behavioral monitoring offers the potential for objective, real-time data collection of a large amount of continuous, long-term behavior data in naturalistic settings.
Objective
The study aims to characterize digital dietary behaviors in depression, and to determine whether these behaviors could be used to detect depression.
Methods
A total of 3310 students (2222 healthy controls [HCs], 916 with mild depression, and 172 with moderate-severe depression) were recruited for the study of their dietary behaviors via electronic records over a 1-month period, and depression severity was assessed in the middle of the month. The differences in dietary behaviors across the HCs, mild depression, and moderate-severe depression were determined by ANCOVA (analyses of covariance) with age, gender, BMI, and educational level as covariates. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between dietary behaviors and depression severity. Support vector machine analysis was used to determine whether changes in dietary behaviors could detect mild and moderate-severe depression.
Results
The study found that individuals with moderate-severe depression had more irregular eating patterns, more fluctuated feeding times, spent more money on dinner, less diverse food choices, as well as eating breakfast less frequently, and preferred to eat only lunch and dinner, compared with HCs. Moderate-severe depression was found to be negatively associated with the daily 3 regular meals pattern (breakfast-lunch-dinner pattern; OR 0.467, 95% CI 0.239-0.912), and mild depression was positively associated with daily lunch and dinner pattern (OR 1.460, 95% CI 1.016-2.100). These changes in digital dietary behaviors were able to detect mild and moderate-severe depression (accuracy=0.53, precision=0.60), with better accuracy for detecting moderate-severe depression (accuracy=0.67, precision=0.64).
Conclusions
This is the first study to develop a profile of changes in digital dietary behaviors in individuals with depression using real-world behavioral monitoring. The results suggest that digital markers may be a promising approach for detecting depression.
... Public health informatics' incorporation of internet data has been a potent tool for studying how people seek medical attention in real time during epidemic outbreaks. As mentioned earlier, Google Trends is a well-liked and often-used tool that uses user-specified keywords and themes to deliver user activities, which are pointers about trends, patterns, and variations of online interests over time [49]. Such adaptations created two nomenclatures: the first been "Infodemiology," defined as "The distribution and determinants of information in a social group or an electronic medium (here, the Internet) with the ultimate purpose of guiding public health and policy," while the second "Infoveillance," defined as "the continuous monitoring of infodemiology metrics for trend analysis and surveillance" [50]. ...
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been applied to many human endeavors, and epidemiology is no exception. The AI community has recently seen a renewed interest in applying AI methods and approaches to epidemiological problems. However, a number of challenges are impeding the growth of the field. This work reviews the uses and applications of AI in epidemiology from 1994 to 2023. The following themes were uncovered: epidemic outbreak tracking and surveillance, Geo-location and visualization of epidemics data, Tele-Health, vaccine resistance and hesitancy sentiment analysis, diagnosis, predicting and monitoring recovery and mortality, and decision support systems. Disease detection received the most interest during the time under review. Furthermore, the following AI approaches were found to be used in epidemiology: prediction, GIS, knowledge representation, analytics, sentiment analysis, contagion analysis, warning systems, and classification. Finally, the work makes the following findings: The absence of benchmark datasets for epidemiological purposes, the need to develop ethical guidelines to regulate the development of AI for epidemiology as this is a major issue impeding it’s growth, a concerted and continuous collaboration between AI and Epidemiology experts to grow the field, the need to develop explainable and privacy retaining AI methods for more secured and human understandable AI solutions.
... In conducting our analysis on public interest in and engagement with pancreas and islet cell transplantation, our decision to utilize Google Trends as the primary tool was influenced by its validity and utility in healthcare research as a social listening tool for measuring changes in public awareness levels [38]. Google Trends was found to be more sensitive and advantageous due to its cost-free and open-access nature, making it a compelling choice for researchers lacking access to paid tools or requiring broad geographical and temporal data coverage [39][40][41][42][43]. ...
Background: Pancreas transplantation is a crucial surgical intervention for managing diabetes, but it faces challenges such as its invasive nature, stringent patient selection criteria, organ scarcity, and centralized expertise. Despite the steadily increasing number of pancreas transplants in the United States, there is a need to understand global trends in interest to increase awareness of and participation in pancreas and islet cell transplantation. Methods: We analyzed Google Search trends for “Pancreas Transplantation” and “Islet Cell Transplantation” from 2004 to 14 November 2023, assessing variations in search interest over time and across geographical locations. The Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) test was used to determine the stationarity of the trends (p < 0.05). Results: Search interest for “Pancreas Transplantation” varied from its 2004 baseline, with a general decline in peak interest over time. The lowest interest was in December 2010, with a slight increase by November 2023. Ecuador, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia showed the highest search interest. “Islet Cell Transplantation” had its lowest interest in December 2016 and a more pronounced decline over time, with Poland, China, and South Korea having the highest search volumes. In the U.S., “Pancreas Transplantation” ranked 4th in interest, while “Islet Cell Transplantation” ranked 11th. The ADF test confirmed the stationarity of the search trends for both procedures. Conclusions: “Pancreas Transplantation” and “Islet Cell Transplantation” showed initial peaks in search interest followed by a general downtrend. The stationary search trends suggest a lack of significant fluctuations or cyclical variations. These findings highlight the need for enhanced educational initiatives to increase the understanding and awareness of these critical transplant procedures among the public and professionals.
... Therefore, infodemiology would be useful in medical research in order to describe different diseases' impact in the general population. GT is a popular means for searching data and could be used for studying public interest in different medical topics [22][23][24] . GT has been widely used in health research in recent years to analyse the search trends of people worldwide or in a specific location on various topics and to understand how these trends are affected by various events or factors 25,26 . ...
Background
In recent years, the online gambling market has rapidly developed, and betting has become one of the most popular forms of gambling. The aim of this study was to analyse the interest of the Malawian population in terms related to betting, sports betting, alcohol, cigarettes, and some psychoactive drugs through the relative search volumes of Google Trends. Methods Internet search query data related to betting, sports betting, alcohol, cigarettes, and psychoactive drugs were obtained monthly from Google Trends for the period 2010-2022. Comparisons of interest levels in these topics were conducted in Malawi, and correlation coefficients were calculated.Results In Malawi, relative search volumes for betting and sports betting terms were the highest (average RSVs: 66% and 30%). It was found that from 2019 onwards, the interest in betting and sports-related search topics and keywords increased significantly (p < 0.001). Strong positive correlations were found between betting-related keywords and alcohol and gross domestic product (r = 0.831 and r = 0.901, p < 0.001). A positive correlation was found between betting and psychoactive drug-related terms (minimum r = 0.417, p < 0.01). Conclusions This study concludes that the interest of the Malawian population in betting has increased in recent years, while interest in psychoactive drugs and alcohol remains high. Gross domestic product is highly correlated with society’s interest in betting. It was additionally found that Google Trends can be used as a tool to predict and monitor future risky behaviours, such as gambling disorder.
... Within this context, emerged the concept of Infodemiology: "the science of distribution and determinants of information in an electronic medium, speci cally the Internet, with the ultimate aim of informing public health and public policy" [14]. The inherent advantage of these data lies in their quasi-real-time nature, effectively mitigating the prolonged delays associated with data collection, analysis, and forecasting [15]. ...
... In this sense, data extracted from Google Trends offer substantial health value in monitoring public interests, which supports epidemiological outcomes related to the occurrence and surveillance of symptoms and diseases [11][12][13]15]. ...
... This longitudinal and retrospective ecological study collected computational metadata related to the activities of Google users from 21 countries, searching for terminologies associated with information disorders, accordingly previous studies [11][12][13]15]. Relative search volume (RSV) data were gathered using Google Trends, focusing on the topics "fake news," "disinformation," "misinformation," and "conspiracy theory" within all and health categories from January 2004 to March 2023. ...
This study aimed to determine the health interests of Google users regarding information disorders. Using Google Trends, relative search volumes (RSVs) that disclosed topics such as 'disinformation,' 'fake news,' 'misinformation,' and 'conspiracy theory' were collected in all and health categories, from January 2004 to March 2023. The data were analyzed using 12-month ARIMA forecasting models, qualitative analysis of health-related queries, and comparisons of terminologies' frequencies to dichotomized categories of mean years of schooling, internet penetration, health relationship, and mean RSV. The information-seeking behavior regarding the terminologies of information disorders remained low over time, indicating an association with the education levels and internet penetration of countries. This was particularly evident for terms such as 'disinformation' and 'misinformation,' which are more commonly used in academic environments. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in Google users' interest in these phenomena, driven by concerns about the coronavirus and vaccines. These findings underscore the importance of implementing media education, particularly in schools as a long-term measure, to promote a better understanding of correct concepts among the population and encourage seeking knowledge from different sources. Additionally, international entities should monitor and regulate the emergence and spread of new popular terminologies related to information disorders.
