Keywords
viral hepatitis
infodemiology
Google Trends
health-seeking behavior
infodemiology
Google Trends
health-seeking behavior
Abstract
Introduction: Viral hepatitis remains a public health concern worldwide, mainly in developing countries. The public’s awareness and interest in viral hepatitis information are essential in preventing and controlling this disease. Infodemiology has been used as a surrogate to assess the general understanding of disease and measure public awareness of health topics. However, this analysis has not been applied to viral hepatitis. Thus, this study investigated the online global search interest for viral hepatitis in the last decade, focusing on the period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Global online search interest for hepatitis was measured using the Google Trends™ database. Spearman’s rank-order correlation correlated country-specific characteristics and prevalence data with search volume index.
Results: There was a significant reduction in online search interest for hepatitis during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). People searching for hepatitis are also interested in hepatitis vaccination. Search volume index is positively correlated with viral hepatitis and HIV prevalence and negatively correlated with GDP. This correlation mirrors the high burden of viral hepatitis in developing countries and their citizens’ desire to be informed about this disease.
Conclusions: Our study found decreased global online interest in viral hepatitis during the pandemic. Moreover, higher online interest in hepatitis was observed in countries with a lower gross domestic product and high viral hepatitis and HIV prevalence. We demonstrated that global online interest toward viral hepatitis could be assessed through the infodemiologic approach using Google Trends™.
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10. Mustafa ZU, Kow CS, Hasan SS. Effect of COVID-19 on viral hepatitis services in Pakistan. Vol. 6, The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Elsevier Ltd; 2021. p. 163–4.
11. Uwishema O, Adanur I, Babatunde AO, Hasan MM, Elmahi OKO, Olajumoke KB, Aborode AT, Emmanuella N, Costa AC dos S, Ahmad S, Essar MY. Viral infections amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications and recommendations. Journal of Medical Virology. 2021 Dec 1;93(12):6798–802.
12. Wingrove C, Ferrier L, James C, Wang S. The impact of COVID-19 on hepatitis elimination. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020 Sep;5(9):792–4.
13. Du H, Yang J, King RB, Yang L, Chi P. COVID-19 Increases Online Searches for Emotional and Health-Related Terms. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. 2020 Dec 1;12(4):1039–53.
14. Starcevic V, Schimmenti A, Billieux J, Berle D. Cyberchondria in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies. 2021 Jan 1;3(1):53–62.
15. Eysenbach G. Infodemiology and infoveillance: Framework for an emerging set of public health informatics methods to analyze search, communication and publication behavior on the internet. Vol. 11, Journal of Medical Internet Research. JMIR Publications Inc.; 2009.
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17. Schootman M, Toor A, Cavazos-Rehg P, Jeffe DB, McQueen A, Eberth J, Davidson NO. The utility of Google Trends data to examine interest in cancer screening. BMJ Open. 2015;5(6):e006678.
18. Foroughi F, Lam AKY, Lim MSC, Saremi N, Ahmadvand A. “googling” for cancer: An infodemiological assessment of online search interests in australia, canada, new zealand, the united kingdom, and the united states. JMIR Cancer. 2016 Jan 1;2(1).
19. Berlinberg EJ, Deiner MS, Porco TC, Acharya NR. Monitoring interest in herpes zoster vaccination: Analysis of google search data. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance. 2018 May 1;4(5).
20. Krishnan N, Anand S, Sandlas G. Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Public Interest in Minimally Invasive Surgery: An Infodemiology Study Using Google Trends. Cureus. 2021;13(10).
21. Ginsberg J, Mohebbi MH, Patel RS, Brammer L, Smolinski MS, Brilliant L. Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data. Nature. 2009 Feb 19;457(7232):1012–4.
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23. Frauenfeld L, Nann D, Sulyok Z, Feng YS, Sulyok M. Forecasting tuberculosis using diabetes-related google trends data. Pathogens and Global Health. 2020 Jul 3;114(5):236–41.
24. The World Bank. World Bank Open Data. 2020.
25. CDA Foundation. CDA Foundation’s Polaris Observatory. 2021.
26. Adelhoefer S, Berning P, Solomon SB, Maybody M, Whelton SP, Blaha MJ, Dzaye O. Decreased public pursuit of cancer-related information during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Cancer Causes and Control. 2021 Jun 1;32(6):577–85.
27. Snyder A, Jang S, Nazari IS, Som A, Flores EJ, Succi MD, Little BP. Google search volume trends for cancer screening terms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Medical Screening. 2021;
28. Kardeş S, Kuzu AS, Raiker R, Pakhchanian H, Karagülle M. Public interest in rheumatic diseases and rheumatologist in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Google Trends. Rheumatology International. 2021 Feb 1;41(2):329–34.
29. Gupta R, Pakhchanian H, Raiker R, Asahi M, Raparla N, Belyea D. Public Interest in Refractive Diseases and Treatments During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Google Trends Analysis. Cureus. 2021;13(8):e17207.
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31. World Health Organization. Hepatitis B vaccination coverage.
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33. Gupta N, Desalegn H, Ocama P, Lacombe K, Njouom R, Afihene M, Cunha L, Spearman CW, Sonderup MW, Kateera F. Converging pandemics: implications of COVID-19 for the viral hepatitis response in sub-Saharan Africa. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020;5(7):634–6.
34. Mavragani A, Ochoa G. Infoveillance of infectious diseases in USA: STDs, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Journal of Big Data. 2018 Dec 1;5(1).
35. Eze Anugwom E. Introductory Chapter: Public Health Afflictions and Challenges in the Developing World. In: Public Health in Developing Countries - Challenges and Opportunities. IntechOpen; 2020.
36. Lacombe K, Rockstroh J. HIV and viral hepatitis coinfections: Advances and challenges. Vol. 61, Gut. 2012.
37. Matthews PC, Geretti AM, Goulder PJR, Klenerman P. Epidemiology and impact of HIV coinfection with Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C viruses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Vol. 61, Journal of Clinical Virology. Elsevier; 2014. p. 20–33.