From the Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022 Feb 1;38(2):e752-e755. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000002442.
Google Trends is an emerging tool that allows users to analyze search queries, showing when certain topics are searched most often. Multiple studies have compared Google Trends to epidemiological data of health conditions, but pediatric specific illnesses have not yet been investigated. An association between disease incidence and Google Trends data may help facilitate precision outreach in the form of digital resources and promotion. We sought to examine the relationship between Google Trends data and measured incidence of bronchiolitis and croup.
We carried out a Google Trends search using the terms "bronchiolitis" and "croup" on July 24, 2019. The number of positive respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza tests published by the Public Health Agency of Canada was used to estimate incidence of bronchiolitis and croup, respectively. Emergency department discharge data were used to measure the number of patients with bronchiolitis and croup presenting to a Canadian pediatric hospital. Data from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2018, were used for analysis.
Google Trends revealed clear seasonal variation in search volume for both bronchiolitis and croup in keeping with known epidemiological data for these conditions. For data on bronchiolitis, Google Trends correlated strongly with Canadian Public Health and our hospital data. A positive correlation was also found with croup.
Google Trends correlates with both laboratory-based and hospital incidence of respiratory viral diagnoses. This novel data source has implications for tracking disease epidemiology, tailoring health information, and providing precision outreach tools to patients and their families.
Google Trends 是一种新兴工具，用户可以利用它分析搜索查询，显示特定主题的搜索频率。多项研究已经将 Google Trends 与健康状况的流行病学数据进行了比较，但尚未对儿科特定疾病进行研究。疾病发病率与 Google Trends 数据之间的关联可能有助于以数字资源和推广的形式促进精准外展。我们试图研究 Google Trends 数据与毛细支气管炎和喉炎发病率之间的关系。
我们于 2019 年 7 月 24 日使用术语“毛细支气管炎”和“喉炎”进行了 Google Trends 搜索。使用加拿大公共卫生局公布的呼吸道合胞病毒和副流感阳性检测数量来分别估计毛细支气管炎和喉炎的发病率。使用急诊部门出院数据来衡量加拿大儿科医院就诊的毛细支气管炎和喉炎患者数量。使用 2015 年 1 月 1 日至 2018 年 12 月 31 日的数据进行分析。
Google Trends 揭示了搜索量在这两种疾病中都具有明显的季节性变化，与这些疾病的已知流行病学数据一致。对于毛细支气管炎的数据，Google Trends 与加拿大公共卫生和我们医院的数据密切相关。与喉炎也发现了正相关。
Google Trends 与实验室和医院的呼吸道病毒诊断发病率相关。这种新的数据来源对跟踪疾病流行病学、调整健康信息以及为患者及其家属提供精准外展工具具有重要意义。
