评估欧洲肝脏疾病的谷歌搜索趋势。

Department of Medicine II, Section of Hepatology, Section of Clinical Bioinformatics, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Clinical Cooperation Unit Healthy Metabolism, Center for Preventive Medicine and Digital Health Baden-Württemberg (CPDBW), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.

Medical Clinic 2, Dept. of Diabetology and Endocrinology, Clinic of Worms, Germany.

J Gastrointestin Liver Dis. 2024 Jun 29;33(2):234-244. doi: 10.15403/jgld-5477.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Chronic liver diseases belong to the most common diseases worldwide and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Although more than one in three adults are estimated to have metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), awareness of this condition is low amongst the general public, health care professionals and policy makers. However, meaningful knowledge transfer is essential for raising awareness and improving prevention and treatment. This study set out to investigate the use of the major internet search engine to understand how knowledge transfer has evolved by analyzing liver-related searches trends.

METHODS

We investigated Google search trends by measuring the number of hits relating to liver diseases between 2004 and 2021 in seven languages and European countries but also worldwide. All analyses were performed in R using the R Google trends package gtrendsR.

RESULTS

We found that interest in MASLD [formerly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)] has generally increased over time, but that interest in metabolic associated steatohepatitis (MASH) - the most severe form of MASLD - has decreased. Interest in viral hepatitis C has decreased, whereas the number of queries regarding viral hepatitis B have been stable but dominated by interest in vaccination for it. Recent medical developments (in viral hepatitis) did not lead to a noticeable change in overall search behavior. Users preferred searching using their native language and less complex medical terms and acronyms (e.g., fatty liver instead of NAFLD).

CONCLUSIONS

In the last two decades, Google search trends have followed the general development in the field of hepatology. Searches were dominated by non-experts and are not being rapidly influenced by novel scientific developments. Also, users preferred search terms in their native languages rather than English and tended to avoid complex medical search terms. Awareness and communication strategies around MASLD should consider these preferences when addressing the general public.

背景和目的

慢性肝脏疾病是全球最常见的疾病之一，与发病率和死亡率的增加有关。尽管估计有超过三分之一的成年人患有代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝病（MASLD），但公众、医疗保健专业人员和政策制定者对此病的认识很低。然而，有意义的知识转移对于提高认识和改善预防和治疗至关重要。本研究旨在通过分析与肝脏相关的搜索趋势，调查使用主要互联网搜索引擎来了解知识转移是如何演变的。

方法

我们通过测量 2004 年至 2021 年期间七种语言和欧洲国家以及全球与肝脏疾病相关的搜索量，调查了谷歌搜索趋势。所有分析均使用 R 语言中的 R Google trends 包 gtrendsR 进行。

结果

我们发现，人们对 MASLD（以前称为非酒精性脂肪性肝病 (NAFLD)）的兴趣总体上随着时间的推移而增加，但对代谢相关脂肪性肝炎 (MASH) 的兴趣（MASLD 最严重的形式）却有所下降。对丙型肝炎病毒的兴趣下降，而乙型肝炎病毒的查询数量保持稳定，但主要集中在对其疫苗的兴趣上。最近的医学发展（在病毒性肝炎方面）并没有导致整体搜索行为发生明显变化。用户更喜欢使用他们的母语和不太复杂的医学术语和缩写（例如，脂肪肝而不是 NAFLD）进行搜索。