Online search query trends appear to correlate with real-life epidemiologic phenomena.
The researchers did this study to analyze correlations in the trends in Google online search volumes of sinusitis-related terms, including symptomatology and similar disease states.
The authors determined Terms clinically associated with “sinusitis” by consensus. Google Trends, an online tool for extracting relative frequencies from a public database of search queries, was used to query normalized monthly volumes in the US from January 2004 to September 2017 of searches related to the topics decided upon by consensus.
Online search volumes of “sinusitis” have a distinct seasonal variation, with consistent annual peaks and troughs. In terms of symptomatology, “postnasal drip,” “nasal congestion,” “cough,” “rhinorrhea,” and “sore throat” are most highly correlated with “sinusitis” search volumes with statistical significance. The “sinusitis” search query volume had a higher positive correlation with “common cold” and “acute sinusitis” than “chronic sinusitis” concerning disease states.
The study concluded that the trends in Google online search volumes overtime of “sinusitis” symptomatology mimic real-world clinical phenomena and provide insight into the general population’s issues.
Reference: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1945892420905761
