Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Public’s Interest in Gastrointestinal Related Disease

Abstract

Background There has been a significant disparity in familiarity regarding the public interest in gastroenterology terminologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to understand how the public’s view on gastrointestinal topics changed throughout the pandemic. Methods A comparative analysis of American Google search volume trends of gastrointestinal terminology in the first six seasons (March 1, 2018, to August 31, 2021) of the COVID-19 pandemic was used as the basis of this infodemiology study. Then, data were compared to a similar time frame (March 2018-February 2020) to determine how trends in the patient-seeking behavior of gastrointestinal terminology changed during the pandemic. Results The analysis discovered a substantial decrease in search volumes of gastrointestinal topics, more significantly in the first pandemic months. As the months progressed, search volumes appeared to trend toward pre-pandemic years in terms of public interest and, in the case of procedures, surpassed pre-pandemic interest levels. Conclusion The public’s decreased interest in gastrointestinal topics at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic may have adverse effects on the health care maintenance of patients who could have had a positive outcome in their gastrointestinal health with proper monitoring. Although gastrointestinal internet searches increased toward pre-pandemic levels as the seasons progressed, further research is needed to determine the long-term impact of decreased public interest.