“Googling” for Cancer: An Infodemiological Assessment of Online Search Interests in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Foroughi, Farshad; Lam, Alfred King‐Yin; Lim, Megan S C; Saremi, Nassim; Ahmadvand, Alireza

doi:10.2196/cancer.5212

Cited by 56 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Previous infodemiology literature has examined Web search query data to evaluate various public health and health care research questions. For example, several studies used Web search query data to identify influenza outbreaks ahead of conventional population detection methods in the United States [5-13] and abroad [14-20], as well as other public health surveillance [21-24]. Researchers have also analyzed search queries for the detection and prevention of adverse drug events, or any other drug related complications [25-27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Web-Based Search Data to Study the Public’s Reactions to Societal Events: The Case of the Sandy Hook Shooting

Menachemi¹,

Rahurkar²

2017

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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BackgroundInternet search is the most common activity on the World Wide Web and generates a vast amount of user-reported data regarding their information-seeking preferences and behavior. Although this data has been successfully used to examine outbreaks, health care utilization, and outcomes related to quality of care, its value in informing public health policy remains unclear.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the role of Internet search query data in health policy development. To do so, we studied the public’s reaction to a major societal event in the context of the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting incident.MethodsQuery data from the Yahoo! search engine regarding firearm-related searches was analyzed to examine changes in user-selected search terms and subsequent websites visited for a period of 14 days before and after the shooting incident.ResultsA total of 5,653,588 firearm-related search queries were analyzed. In the after period, queries increased for search terms related to “guns” (+50.06%), “shooting incident” (+333.71%), “ammunition” (+155.14%), and “gun-related laws” (+535.47%). The highest increase (+1054.37%) in Web traffic was seen by news websites following “shooting incident” queries whereas searches for “guns” (+61.02%) and “ammunition” (+173.15%) resulted in notable increases in visits to retail websites. Firearm-related queries generally returned to baseline levels after approximately 10 days.ConclusionsSearch engine queries present a viable infodemiology metric on public reactions and subsequent behaviors to major societal events and could be used by policymakers to inform policy development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Web-Based Search Data to Study the Public’s Reactions to Societal Events: The Case of the Sandy Hook Shooting

Menachemi¹,

Rahurkar²

2017

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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“…Overall, these studies reported moderate to strong degree of associations, suggesting a potential value in applying infoveillance to chronic diseases. Foroughi et al [19] found that cancer-related terms were associated with Web search activity for the burden of cancers, such as cancer incidence and mortality, in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Also, an American study showed associations between suicide rates and Google search trends relating to “how to suicide,” “commit suicide,” and “suicide prevention” among all 50 states in 2009 [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disease Monitoring and Health Campaign Evaluation Using Google Search Activities for HIV and AIDS, Stroke, Colorectal Cancer, and Marijuana Use in Canada: A Retrospective Observational Study

Ling¹,

Lee²

2016

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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BackgroundInfodemiology can offer practical and feasible health research applications through the practice of studying information available on the Web. Google Trends provides publicly accessible information regarding search behaviors in a population, which may be studied and used for health campaign evaluation and disease monitoring. Additional studies examining the use and effectiveness of Google Trends for these purposes remain warranted.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to explore the use of infodemiology in the context of health campaign evaluation and chronic disease monitoring. It was hypothesized that following a launch of a campaign, there would be an increase in information seeking behavior on the Web. Second, increasing and decreasing disease patterns in a population would be associated with search activity patterns. This study examined 4 different diseases: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, stroke, colorectal cancer, and marijuana use.MethodsUsing Google Trends, relative search volume data were collected throughout the period of February 2004 to January 2015. Campaign information and disease statistics were obtained from governmental publications. Search activity trends were graphed and assessed with disease trends and the campaign interval. Pearson product correlation statistics and joinpoint methodology analyses were used to determine significance.ResultsDisease patterns and online activity across all 4 diseases were significantly correlated: HIV infection (r=.36, P<.001), stroke (r=.40, P<.001), colorectal cancer (r= −.41, P<.001), and substance use (r=.64, P<.001). Visual inspection and the joinpoint analysis showed significant correlations for the campaigns on colorectal cancer and marijuana use in stimulating search activity. No significant correlations were observed for the campaigns on stroke and HIV regarding search activity.ConclusionsThe use of infoveillance shows promise as an alternative and inexpensive solution to disease surveillance and health campaign evaluation. Further research is needed to understand Google Trends as a valid and reliable tool for health research.

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“…Internet data mining has already shown a great potential to elucidate public attitudes associated with the consumption of health information [Bakker et al, 2016;Foroughi et al, 2016]. Google Trends is an online tool that evaluates a percentage of billions of daily structured queries entered into Google Search, the leading company in the industry of search engines [NetMarketShare, 2016].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

What Can Google Inform Us about People's Interests regarding Dental Caries in Different Populations?

Aguirre

Coelho²,

Oliveira³

et al. 2018

Caries Res

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The diagnosis or suspicion of dental caries can lead people to seek additional information on the Internet through the use of structured queries in search engine tools. This action generates a considerable volume of data, which can be analyzed to provide a better understanding of the public's behavior linked to the consumption of oral health information. This study aimed to assess the volume and profile of web searches on dental caries-related queries performed by Google users from different countries. The monthly variation of the Search Volume Index (SVI) for dental caries was obtained in Google Trends for the period between January 2004 and September 2016. The validity of SVI data was assessed by their levels of stability and correlation with the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for permanent teeth. In all countries, a trend of an increasing interest of Google users in dental caries issues was revealed by the comparison of the means observed in the predictive models and those in the last 12 months. The interest levels varied throughout the year, with the observation of the highest SVI values in the spring and the lowest in the summer. The most popular queries were markedly associated with symptoms and treatments, with a little interest in prevention. In conclusion, the use of Internet data mining could be helpful in establishing the dental needs of specific population groups in a near real-time, since the web consumption of dental information is increasing in importance and appears to have a direct relation with untreated dental caries.

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“Googling” for Cancer: An Infodemiological Assessment of Online Search Interests in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Cited by 56 publications

References 37 publications

Using Web-Based Search Data to Study the Public’s Reactions to Societal Events: The Case of the Sandy Hook Shooting

Using Web-Based Search Data to Study the Public’s Reactions to Societal Events: The Case of the Sandy Hook Shooting

Disease Monitoring and Health Campaign Evaluation Using Google Search Activities for HIV and AIDS, Stroke, Colorectal Cancer, and Marijuana Use in Canada: A Retrospective Observational Study

What Can Google Inform Us about People's Interests regarding Dental Caries in Different Populations?

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