Tizek Linda, Schielein Maximilian, Rüth Melvin, Ständer Sonja, Pereira Manuel Pedro, Eberlein Bernadette, Biedermann Tilo, Zink Alexander
Department of Dermatology and Allergy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
The Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry, and Epidemiology, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany.
J Med Internet Res. 2019 Jul 12;21(7):e13739. doi: 10.2196/13739.
The burden of pruritus is high, especially among patients with dermatologic diseases. Identifying trends in pruritus burden and people's medical needs is challenging, since not all affected people consult a physician.
The purpose of this study was to investigate pruritus search behavior trends in Germany and identify associations with weather factors.
Google AdWords Keyword Planner was used to quantify pruritus-related search queries in 16 German cities from August 2014 to July 2018. All identified keywords were qualitatively categorized and pruritus-related terms were descriptively analyzed. The number of search queries per 100,000 inhabitants of each city was compared to environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, particulate matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter (PM10), and sunshine duration to investigate potential correlations.
We included 1150 pruritus-related keywords, which resulted in 2,851,290 queries. "Pruritus" (n=115,680) and "anal pruritus" (n=102,390) were the most-searched-for keywords. Nearly half of all queries were related to the category localization, with Berlin and Munich having a comparatively high proportion of people that searched for pruritus in the genital and anal areas. People searched more frequently for information on chronic compared to acute pruritus. The most populated cities had the lowest number of queries per 100,000 inhabitants (Berlin, n=13,641; Hamburg, n=18,303; and Munich, n=21,363), while smaller cities (Kiel, n=35,027; and Freiburg, n=39,501) had the highest. Temperature had a greater effect on search query number (beta -7.94, 95% CI -10.74 to -5.15) than did PM10 (beta -5.13, 95% CI -7.04 to -3.22), humidity (beta 4.73, 95% CI 2.70 to 6.75), or sunshine duration (beta 0.66, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.97). The highest relative number of search queries occurred during the winter (ie, December to February).
By taking into account the study results, Google data analysis helps to examine people's search frequency, behavior, and interest across cities and regions. The results indicated a general increase in search queries during the winter as well as differences across cities located in the same region; for example, there was a decline in search volume in Saarbrucken, while there were increases in Cologne, Frankfurt, and Dortmund. In addition, the detected correlation between search volume and weather data seems to be valuable in predicting an increase in pruritus burden, since a significant association with rising humidity and sunshine duration, as well as declining temperature and PM10, was found. Accordingly, this is an unconventional and inexpensive method to identify search behavior trends and respective inhabitants' needs.
瘙痒的负担很重，尤其是在皮肤病患者中。由于并非所有受影响的人都会咨询医生，因此确定瘙痒负担的趋势和人们的医疗需求具有挑战性。
本研究的目的是调查德国的瘙痒搜索行为趋势，并确定与天气因素的关联。
使用谷歌关键词规划师对2014年8月至2018年7月德国16个城市中与瘙痒相关的搜索查询进行量化。对所有识别出的关键词进行定性分类，并对与瘙痒相关的术语进行描述性分析。将每个城市每10万居民的搜索查询数量与温度、湿度、直径10微米及以下的颗粒物（PM10）和日照时长等环境因素进行比较，以研究潜在的相关性。
我们纳入了1150个与瘙痒相关的关键词，共产生了2851290次查询。“瘙痒”（n = 115680）和“肛门瘙痒”（n = 102390）是搜索次数最多的关键词。几乎所有查询的一半与部位类别相关，柏林和慕尼黑在生殖器和肛门区域搜索瘙痒的人群比例相对较高。与急性瘙痒相比，人们更频繁地搜索慢性瘙痒的信息。人口最多的城市每10万居民的查询数量最低（柏林，n = 13641；汉堡，n = 18303；慕尼黑，n = 21363），而较小的城市（基尔，n = 35027；弗莱堡，n = 39501）则最高。温度对搜索查询数量的影响（β = -7.94，95%CI -10.74至-5.15）大于PM10（β = -5.13，95%CI -7.04至-3.22）、湿度（β = 4.73，95%CI 2.70至6.75）或日照时长（β = 0.66，95%CI 0.36至0.97）。搜索查询的相对数量在冬季（即12月至2月）最高。
考虑到研究结果，谷歌数据分析有助于研究不同城市和地区人们的搜索频率、行为和兴趣。结果表明，冬季搜索查询总体增加，同一地区的城市之间也存在差异；例如，萨尔布吕肯的搜索量下降，而科隆、法兰克福和多特蒙德的搜索量增加。此外，检测到的搜索量与天气数据之间的相关性似乎对预测瘙痒负担的增加很有价值，因为发现与湿度上升、日照时长增加以及温度和PM10下降存在显著关联。因此，这是一种识别搜索行为趋势和相应居民需求的非常规且廉价的方法。
