Division of Adult Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines.
Division of Adult Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines; Section of Neurology, Institute for Neurosciences, St. Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City & Global City, Philippines.
Epilepsy Behav. 2022 Jul;132:108730. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108730. Epub 2022 May 24.
Patients and their caregivers, including clinicians and educators, use web-based search engines to access healthcare-related information from the internet. Online search behavior analysis has been used to obtain insights on health information demand.
We aimed to describe the online search behavior for autoimmune encephalitis, autoimmune seizures, and autoimmune encephalitis (AE) worldwide over time through the analysis of search volumes made on Google.
In this infodemiological study, we retrieved search volume indices for the keyword "autoimmune encephalitis (search term)", "autoimmune seizures (search term)", and "autoimmune encephalitis (search term)" based on worldwide search data from January 01, 2004 to October 31, 2021, using Google Trends. We performed a descriptive analysis of search volume patterns, including related topics and queries.
There was a progressive increase in search volume numbers over time for the keyword "autoimmune encephalitis", "autoimmune seizures", and "autoimmune epilepsy" with no annual seasonal variation. Peak search volumes for these keywords were recorded in July 2018, February 2005, December 2012, respectively. The greatest search volume for "autoimmune encephalitis" was recorded in Singapore, followed by Australia, the United States of America, the Philippines, and New Zealand, whereas it was highest in the United States for "autoimmune seizures" and "autoimmune epilepsy". The most searched topics were related to definition, causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. All related topics and queries increased in volume by more than 5000-fold over time.
This study showed an uptrend in the online search interest on autoimmune encephalitis, autoimmune seizures, and autoimmune epilepsy over time, which may reflect the increased awareness of the condition by the public and the medical community. Information on online health information-seeking behavior may be obtained from Google Trends data despite its limitations.
患者及其照顾者，包括临床医生和教育工作者，使用基于网络的搜索引擎从互联网上获取与医疗保健相关的信息。在线搜索行为分析已被用于获取健康信息需求的见解。
我们旨在通过分析谷歌上的搜索量，描述全球范围内自身免疫性脑炎、自身免疫性癫痫发作和自身免疫性脑炎（AE）的在线搜索行为随时间的变化。
在这项信息流行病学研究中，我们根据 2004 年 1 月 1 日至 2021 年 10 月 31 日期间全球搜索数据，使用 Google Trends 检索了关键词“自身免疫性脑炎（搜索词）”、“自身免疫性癫痫发作（搜索词）”和“自身免疫性脑炎（搜索词）”的搜索量指数。我们对搜索量模式进行了描述性分析，包括相关主题和查询。
随着时间的推移，“自身免疫性脑炎”、“自身免疫性癫痫发作”和“自身免疫性癫痫”的搜索量呈递增趋势，且无年度季节性变化。这些关键词的搜索量峰值分别出现在 2018 年 7 月、2005 年 2 月和 2012 年 12 月。“自身免疫性脑炎”的最高搜索量出现在新加坡，其次是澳大利亚、美国、菲律宾和新西兰，而“自身免疫性癫痫发作”和“自身免疫性癫痫”的最高搜索量则出现在美国。搜索最多的主题与定义、病因、症状、诊断和治疗有关。所有相关主题和查询的搜索量随时间的推移增加了 5000 多倍。
这项研究表明，随着时间的推移，全球对自身免疫性脑炎、自身免疫性癫痫发作和自身免疫性癫痫的在线搜索兴趣呈上升趋势，这可能反映了公众和医学界对该疾病的认识不断提高。尽管存在局限性，但可以从 Google Trends 数据中获取有关在线健康信息搜索行为的信息。
