Global online interest in cervical cancer care in the time of COVID-19: An infodemiology study

Eala, Michelle Ann B; Tantengco, Ourlad Alzeus G.

doi:10.1016/j.gore.2022.100998

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…These studies have generally found a decrease in interest in many cancers and their screening programs. This decrease in RSVs for cancer-related search terms paralleled a decrease in the number of diagnostic procedures and new cancer diagnoses [ 42 , 73 - 75 ]. These findings highlight how GT can be used to study emerging public health problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Characteristics, Uses, and Biases of Studies Related to Malignancies Using Google Trends: Systematic Review

Kamińśki¹,

Czarny²,

Skrzypczak³

et al. 2023

J Med Internet Res

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Background The internet is a primary source of health information for patients, supplementing physician care. Google Trends (GT), a popular tool, allows the exploration of public interest in health-related phenomena. Despite the growing volume of GT studies, none have focused explicitly on oncology, creating a need for a systematic review to bridge this gap. Objective We aimed to systematically characterize studies related to oncology using GT to describe its utilities and biases. Methods We included all studies that used GT to analyze Google searches related to malignancies. We excluded studies written in languages other than English. The search was performed using the PubMed engine on August 1, 2022. We used the following search input: “Google trends” AND (“oncology” OR “cancer” or “malignancy” OR “tumor” OR “lymphoma” OR “multiple myeloma” OR “leukemia”). We analyzed sources of bias that included using search terms instead of topics, lack of confrontation of GT statistics with real-world data, and absence of sensitivity analysis. We performed descriptive statistics. Results A total of 85 articles were included. The first study using GT for oncology research was published in 2013, and since then, the number of publications has increased annually. The studies were categorized as follows: 22% (19/85) were related to prophylaxis, 20% (17/85) pertained to awareness events, 11% (9/85) were celebrity-related, 13% (11/85) were related to COVID-19, and 47% (40/85) fell into other categories. The most frequently analyzed cancers were breast (n=28), prostate (n=26), lung (n=18), and colorectal cancers (n=18). We discovered that of the 85 studies, 17 (20%) acknowledged using GT topics instead of search terms, 79 (93%) disclosed all search input details necessary for replicating their results, and 34 (40%) compared GT statistics with real-world data. The most prevalent methods for analyzing the GT data were correlation analysis (55/85, 65%) and peak analysis (43/85, 51%). The authors of only 11% (9/85) of the studies performed a sensitivity analysis. Conclusions The number of studies related to oncology using GT data has increased annually. The studies included in this systematic review demonstrate a variety of concerning topics, search strategies, and statistical methodologies. The most frequently analyzed cancers were breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, skin, and cervical cancers, potentially reflecting their prevalence in the population or public interest. Although most researchers provided reproducible search inputs, only one-fifth used GT topics instead of search terms, and many studies lacked a sensitivity analysis. Scientists using GT for medical research should ensure the quality of studies by providing a transparent search strategy to reproduce results, preferring to use topics over search terms, and performing robust statistical calculations coupled with sensitivity analysis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Characteristics, Uses, and Biases of Studies Related to Malignancies Using Google Trends: Systematic Review

Kamińśki¹,

Czarny²,

Skrzypczak³

et al. 2023

J Med Internet Res

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“…They analyzed 9 terms related to cervical cancer care using the Google Trends database between 2018 and 2021. Although terms such as “cervical cancer” or “Pap test” have shown a decline in their search volume index, “HPV vaccine” have increased in LA ( 30 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

HPV vaccination in Latin America: Coverage status, implementation challenges and strategies to overcome it

et al. 2022

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Cervical cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality amongst females in Latin America (LATAM). Cervical cancer is a preventable disease and HPV vaccination is a main key strategy towards its elimination. This study analyzes HPV vaccine implementation current status and the main barriers to achieve adequate coverage in the region. Data from the nineteen sovereign states of LATAM (comprised of all Portuguese and Spanish-speaking nations located south of the United States) were collected, including year of HPV vaccine implementation, gender and age targets, the number of doses included in the public program and coverage by dose. Sixteen out of the 19 evaluated countries have already implemented HPV vaccination programs. However, despite its proven efficacy and safety, HPV vaccine uptake in LATAM has been lower than expected. There is an evident decline in adhesion, mainly regarding the second dose. Several reasons are probably involved, of note: limited knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccine, misguided safety concerns, high cost, cultural barriers, and the Covid19 pandemic. Proper strategies to overcome these barriers are needed to ensure successful uptake. Effective policies are: adopting the one dose schedule, delivering the vaccine on both health center and schools, and advising health professionals to recommend the vaccine. Further research regarding HPV vaccine hesitancy in Latin America is needed.

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“…Generally considering, the unprecedented pandemic must have limited educational opportunities for preventive medicine for the public. In fact, an infodemiology study using the Google Trends reported a sharp drop in global online searching for cervical cancer after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic 30 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the cervical cancer awareness months on public interest in Japan: A Google Trends analysis, 2012–2021

Hagiya

Koyama

Otsuka

2022

Sci Rep

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The immunization and screening rates for human papillomavirus in Japan are lower than those in other countries. We aimed to evaluate the impact of cervical cancer awareness months on public attention using Google Trends analysis. Between 2012 and 2021, we analyzed the trends in relative search volumes (RSVs) for “Shikyuu-keigan” (cervical cancer in English) in Japan, during the cervical cancer awareness month (CCAM) in January and cervical cancer prevention awareness enhancement month (CCPAEM) in November. We performed a joinpoint regression analysis to identify a statistically significant trend change point. Additionally, we compared the mean RSVs of each awareness month with the rest of the year. Significant trend change points were observed, but none were found in CCAM and CCPAEM periods. Comparison of mean RSVs among CCAM, CCPAEM, and the rest of the months did not suggest any significant increases in RSVs during these awareness periods. In conclusion, CAM and CCPAEM did not raise public interest in cervical cancer in Japan. Although the results are based on internet users, the findings might suggest a need to develop a more effective and attractive approach to achieve the 90-70-90 targets of cervical cancer prevention by 2030.

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Global online interest in cervical cancer care in the time of COVID-19: An infodemiology study

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

The Characteristics, Uses, and Biases of Studies Related to Malignancies Using Google Trends: Systematic Review

The Characteristics, Uses, and Biases of Studies Related to Malignancies Using Google Trends: Systematic Review

HPV vaccination in Latin America: Coverage status, implementation challenges and strategies to overcome it

Impact of the cervical cancer awareness months on public interest in Japan: A Google Trends analysis, 2012–2021

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