Department of General Surgery, Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, Medical Academy named after S. I. Georgievsky of V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University; Lenin Blvd, 5/7, Simferopol 295051, Russian Federation.
Am J Emerg Med. 2022 Mar;53:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2021.12.043. Epub 2021 Dec 22.
To explore trends and patterns of laypeople's activity for seeking telephone number of emergency medical services (EMS) based on analysis of online search traffic, including changes of the search activity with onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, in five countries - the United States of America (USA), India, Brazil, the United Kingdom (UK) and Russia.
Google Trends (GT) country-level data on weekly relative search volumes (RSV) for top queries to seek EMS number were examined for January 2018-October 2021, including a comparison of RSVs between pre-COVID-19 period (January 2018-October 2019) and COVID-19 period (January 2020-October 2021), and evaluation of temporal associations of RSVs with weekly numbers of new COVID-19 cases.
The countries demonstrated diverse patterns of the search activity with significantly different mean RSVs (the USA 1.76, India 10.20, Brazil 2.51, the UK 6.42, Russia 56.79; p < 0.001). For all countries excepting the USA mean RSVs of the COVID-19 period were significantly higher compared with the pre-COVID-19 ones (India +74%, Brazil +148%, the UK +22%, Russia +9%; p ≤ 0.034), and exhibited positive correlations with numbers of new COVID-19 cases, more pronounced for 2021 (India r = 0.538, Brazil 0.307, the UK 0.434, Russia 0.639; p ≤ 0.045).
Laypeople's activity for seeking EMS telephone number greatly varies between countries. It clearly responds to the spread of COVID-19 and could be reflective of public need for obtaining emergency help. Further studies are required to establish the role of GT for conducting real-time surveillance of population demand for EMS.
通过分析在线搜索流量，探讨 5 个国家（美国、印度、巴西、英国和俄罗斯）普通民众拨打紧急医疗服务（EMS）电话的活动趋势和模式，包括在 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫情爆发前后的搜索活动变化。
对 2018 年 1 月至 2021 年 10 月期间，谷歌趋势（GT）关于每周拨打 EMS 电话号码的热门搜索查询的国家层面相对搜索量（RSV）数据进行了检查，包括比较 COVID-19 前（2018 年 1 月至 2019 年 10 月）和 COVID-19 期间（2020 年 1 月至 2021 年 10 月）的 RSV，以及评估 RSV 与每周新 COVID-19 病例数之间的时间关联。
各国的搜索活动模式各异，RSV 均值差异显著（美国 1.76，印度 10.20，巴西 2.51，英国 6.42，俄罗斯 56.79；p<0.001）。除美国外，其他国家 COVID-19 期间的 RSV 均值均显著高于 COVID-19 前（印度+74%，巴西+148%，英国+22%，俄罗斯+9%；p≤0.034），且与新 COVID-19 病例数呈正相关，2021 年相关性更显著（印度 r=0.538，巴西 r=0.307，英国 r=0.434，俄罗斯 r=0.639；p≤0.045）。
普通民众拨打 EMS 电话的活动在各国之间差异很大。它明显响应了 COVID-19 的传播，反映了公众对获得紧急帮助的需求。需要进一步研究 GT 在进行 EMS 人口需求实时监测方面的作用。
