Kahlam Aaron, Chowdhury Salil, Kahlam Jasneel, Amer Kamal, Ahlawat Sushil
Internal Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, USA.
Internal Medicine, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, USA.
Cureus. 2022 May 13;14(5):e24959. doi: 10.7759/cureus.24959. eCollection 2022 May.
Introduction Public figures, namely celebrities, are highly influential people whose actions and thoughts are often emulated, especially regarding healthcare. Understanding trends in public interest may provide an opportunity for further patient education. Given the changes of the COVID-19 pandemic along with the highly publicized death of actor Chadwick Boseman, who died from complications of colon cancer, we analyzed trends in colon cancer searches over a 15-month period. Methods Google Trends (Google, Mountain View, California) was used to access search histories in the United States from January 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021. Four search terms were analyzed: "colon cancer", "colonoscopy", "Cologuard", and "virtual colonoscopy". Google Trends reports data as relative search volume (RSV), a scaled number from 0-100 reflecting interest in a particular search term over a set time. Search terms were analyzed on the same RSV scale with one-way ANOVAs comparing search volumes during four eight-week blocks. Results Google Trends data was reported weekly. Search volume for colon cancer was higher (17.3, p=0.00) over the eight weeks following Boseman's death, while search volume for colonoscopy returned to normal (21.5, p=0.95) when compared to pre-pandemic levels. Conclusion The peak in colon cancer searches in late August of 2020 corresponds to the death of Chadwick Boseman on 8/28/2020. Colonoscopy interest decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic before returning to previous levels around the time of Boseman's death without experiencing the same spike in interest. This discrepancy represents a missed opportunity for patient education on this preventable disease.
引言 公众人物，即名人，是极具影响力的人群，其行为和思想常被效仿，在医疗保健方面尤其如此。了解公众兴趣趋势可能为进一步开展患者教育提供契机。鉴于新冠疫情的变化以及演员查德维克·博斯曼因结肠癌并发症去世一事被广泛报道，我们分析了15个月期间结肠癌搜索趋势。
方法 利用谷歌趋势（谷歌公司，加利福尼亚州山景城）获取2020年1月1日至2021年4月30日美国的搜索历史记录。分析了四个搜索词：“结肠癌”“结肠镜检查”“Cologuard”和“虚拟结肠镜检查”。谷歌趋势以相对搜索量（RSV）形式报告数据，RSV是一个从0到100的缩放数字，反映特定搜索词在设定时间段内的关注度。在相同的RSV尺度上分析搜索词，并通过单向方差分析比较四个为期八周时间段内的搜索量。
结果 谷歌趋势数据按周报告。博斯曼去世后的八周内，结肠癌搜索量较高（17.3，p = 0.00），而结肠镜检查的搜索量与疫情前水平相比恢复正常（21.5，p = 0.95）。
结论 2020年8月下旬结肠癌搜索量的峰值与查德维克·博斯曼于2020年8月28日去世相对应。在新冠疫情期间，结肠镜检查的关注度下降，在博斯曼去世前后恢复到先前水平，但未出现相同的关注度激增。这种差异表明在这种可预防疾病的患者教育方面错失了机会。
