Rampally Vijay, Mondal Himel, Mondal Shaikat
Department of General Medicine, ESI Medical College, Sanath Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Department of Physiology, Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital, Balangir, Odisha, India.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2020 Feb 28;9(2):698-705. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1001_19. eCollection 2020 Feb.
The knowledge about Internet search trends helps to know the information-seeking behavior of the Internet users and this would help in formulating Information Education and Communication strategy.
The aim of this study was to explore the global Internet search trends about vaccine-related information in English.
First, we conducted a pilot interview with 15 participants (convenience sample from a tertiary care hospital) to make a list of five common query keywords (viz., When, Where, Cost, Side effect, Schedule) for vaccine-related search. Then, we obtained the search trends from "Google trends" for 5 years with the five query keywords prefixed with vaccine (e.g. vaccine when). In the second phase, individual vaccine search was conducted with a particular vaccine name and query keyword (e.g. measles vaccine side effect).
Five-year search trend showed that the highest volume of search was for "schedule" (36.79%), followed by "when" (26.57%), "cost" (21.97%), and "where" (11.99%). The "side effect" showed the lowest volume of search (2.68%) (χ = 10595, < 0.0001). The search volume was increased over the years. The highest volume of the "when" and "where" were searched from the USA. The "cost" was searched in the highest volume from Australia. "Side effect" and "schedule" of the vaccine were searched with the highest volume from Philippines and Nepal, respectively.
This study provides a glimpse of global vaccine-related search trends over a period of 5 years. Information on the "schedule" and "when" to get the vaccine should be strengthened for wider dissemination of knowledge.
了解互联网搜索趋势有助于知晓互联网用户的信息寻求行为，这将有助于制定信息教育与传播策略。
本研究旨在探究全球范围内关于疫苗相关信息的英文互联网搜索趋势。
首先，我们对15名参与者（来自一家三级护理医院的便利样本）进行了试点访谈，以列出疫苗相关搜索的五个常见查询关键词（即何时、何地、费用、副作用、接种计划）。然后，我们从“谷歌趋势”获取了5年的搜索趋势，这五个查询关键词均以“疫苗”作为前缀（例如“疫苗何时”）。在第二阶段，针对特定疫苗名称和查询关键词（例如“麻疹疫苗副作用”）进行了单独疫苗搜索。
五年搜索趋势显示，搜索量最高的是“接种计划”（36.79%），其次是“何时”（26.57%）、“费用”（21.97%）和“何地”（11.99%）。“副作用”的搜索量最低（2.68%）（χ = 10595，< 0.0001）。多年来搜索量呈上升趋势。“何时”和“何地”搜索量最高的来自美国。“费用”搜索量最高的来自澳大利亚。疫苗的“副作用”和“接种计划”搜索量最高的分别来自菲律宾和尼泊尔。
本研究展示了五年期间全球疫苗相关搜索趋势的概况。关于疫苗“接种计划”和“何时”接种的信息应加强传播，以扩大知识普及范围。
