Winter peaks in web-based public inquiry into epistaxis

Abstract

Purpose Epistaxis represents the most frequent ear, nose, throat-related emergency symptom. Seasonal variation in epistaxis incidence, with peaks during winter months, is widely accepted, although the literature itself remains inconclusive. The objective of this study was to evaluate public inquiry into nose bleeding, by considering Google-based search query frequency on "Epistaxis"-related search terms and to assess possible seasonal variations globally. Results Graphical representation revealed seasonal variations with peaks during winter months in the majority of countries included. Subsequent cosinor analysis revealed these variations to be significant (all p < 0.001). Conclusion Public interest in seeking epistaxis-related information through the Internet displayed seasonal patterns in countries from both hemispheres, with the highest interest during winter months. Further studies exploring causality with environmental factors are warranted.Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Peaks in online inquiries into pharyngitis-related symptoms correspond with annual incidence rates

“…Moreover, our analysis provided further evidence that GT-data from larger countries were more reliable. This was in alignment to results of previous studies [ 9 , 10 ]. Again, we point out the importance of reliability assessment of data retrieved using GT.…”

“…We have previously shown that data from countries with less inhabitants show lower reliability compared to higher populated countries [ 9 , 10 ]. We aimed to determine the reliability of GT-data which were assessed on seven consecutive days as mentioned above using the intraclass correlation coefficient (Tables 1 , 2 ) (Supplementary Tables 2–5).…”

“…It allows analysis of search-query volume (frequency) for search terms that were entered on Google web search. These searches can be grouped for geographical location, timeframe (dating back to 2004), category, and subject [ 9 , 10 ]. The search frequency is displayed as the relative search volume (RSV), indicating the interest for a specified search-term.…”

“…To assess and illustratively depict seasonal variations of global RSV for pharyngitis-related search terms, we included countries from both hemispheres. In line with previous studies, we selected Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA) as English-speaking countries from both hemispheres [ 9 , 10 ]. We selected Germany and Austria as non-English speaking countries from the northern hemisphere.…”

“…In addition, we compared all related inquiries with one another to depict the five most relevant search terms. Since previous studies provided evidence that GT-data from countries with a lower number of inhabitants are less reliable [ 9 , 10 ], we entered the five above-mentioned search terms on seven consecutive days for each country included, starting from April 22nd 2020. GT searches were specified for the following parameters: timeframe between January 1st, 2004 until December 31st, 2019 and “health” category.…”