scholarly journals Seasonality Patterns of Internet Searches on Mental Health: Exploratory Infodemiology Study

10.2196/12974 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. e12974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noam Soreni ◽  
Duncan H Cameron ◽  
David L Streiner ◽  
Karen Rowa ◽  
Randi E McCabe
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Service Planning ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Internet Searches

Background The study of seasonal patterns of public interest in psychiatric disorders has important theoretical and practical implications for service planning and delivery. The recent explosion of internet searches suggests that mining search databases yields unique information on public interest in mental health disorders, which is a significantly more affordable approach than population health studies. Objective This study aimed to investigate seasonal patterns of internet mental health queries in Ontario, Canada. Methods Weekly data on health queries in Ontario from Google Trends were downloaded for a 5-year period (2012-2017) for the terms “schizophrenia,” “autism,” “bipolar,” “depression,” “anxiety,” “OCD” (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and “suicide.” Control terms were overall search results for the terms “health” and “how.” Time-series analyses using a continuous wavelet transform were performed to isolate seasonal components in the search volume for each term. Results All mental health queries showed significant seasonal patterns with peak periodicity occurring over the winter months and troughs occurring during summer, except for “suicide.” The comparison term “health” also exhibited seasonal periodicity, while the term “how” did not, indicating that general information seeking may not follow a seasonal trend in the way that mental health information seeking does. Conclusions Seasonal patterns of internet search volume in a wide range of mental health terms were observed, with the exception of “suicide.” Our study demonstrates that monitoring internet search trends is an affordable, instantaneous, and naturalistic method to sample public interest in large populations and inform health policy planners.

scholarly journals Seasonality Patterns of Internet Searches on Mental Health: Exploratory Infodemiology Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noam Soreni ◽  
Duncan H Cameron ◽  
David L Streiner ◽  
Karen Rowa ◽  
Randi E McCabe
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Service Planning ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Internet Searches

BACKGROUND The study of seasonal patterns of public interest in psychiatric disorders has important theoretical and practical implications for service planning and delivery. The recent explosion of internet searches suggests that mining search databases yields unique information on public interest in mental health disorders, which is a significantly more affordable approach than population health studies. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate seasonal patterns of internet mental health queries in Ontario, Canada. METHODS Weekly data on health queries in Ontario from Google Trends were downloaded for a 5-year period (2012-2017) for the terms “schizophrenia,” “autism,” “bipolar,” “depression,” “anxiety,” “OCD” (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and “suicide.” Control terms were overall search results for the terms “health” and “how.” Time-series analyses using a continuous wavelet transform were performed to isolate seasonal components in the search volume for each term. RESULTS All mental health queries showed significant seasonal patterns with peak periodicity occurring over the winter months and troughs occurring during summer, except for “suicide.” The comparison term “health” also exhibited seasonal periodicity, while the term “how” did not, indicating that general information seeking may not follow a seasonal trend in the way that mental health information seeking does. CONCLUSIONS Seasonal patterns of internet search volume in a wide range of mental health terms were observed, with the exception of “suicide.” Our study demonstrates that monitoring internet search trends is an affordable, instantaneous, and naturalistic method to sample public interest in large populations and inform health policy planners.

Using internet search data to explore the global public concerns in ankylosing spondylitis

2020 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2019-137407
Author(s):  
Yong-Jun Mei ◽  
Yan-Mei Mao ◽  
Fan Cao ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Zhi-Jun Li
Keyword(s):  
Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽  
Ankylosing Spondylitis ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Hla B27 ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Significant Seasonal Variation ◽  
Search Data ◽  
Public Concerns

ObjectiveThis study explored the changes of global public interest in internet search of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) based on Google Trends (GT) data, in order to reflect the characteristics of AS itself.MethodsGT was used to obtain the search popularity scores of the term ’AS’ on a global scale, between January 2004 and December 2018, under the ’health’ classification. Based on the global search data of AS provided by GT, the cosinor analysis was used to test whether there was seasonality in AS.ResultsIn general, AS related search volume demonstrated a decreasing trend from January 2004 to December 2014 and then remain stable from January 2015 to December 2018. No obvious seasonal variations were detected in AS related search volume (amplitude=1.54; phase: month=3.9; low point: month=9.9; p>0.025), which peaked in April and bottomed out in October. The top 17 rising topics were adalimumab, spondylolisthesis, Morbus, Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev, autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosis, HLA- B27 positive, Crohn’s disease, rheumatology, spondylosis, arthritis, uveitis, rheumatism, sacroiliac, psoriatic arthritis and spondylitis.ConclusionsGlobally, there is no significant seasonal variation in GT for AS. The top fast-growing topics related to AS may be beneficial for doctors to provide targeted health education of the disease to patients and their families.

Seasonal variations and public search interests in Toxoplasma: a 16-year retrospective analysis of big data on Google Trends

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Liu ◽  
Peng Wang ◽  
Su-Qin Jiang ◽  
Zi-Rong Zhong ◽  
Ting-Zheng Zhan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Search Term ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Search Data ◽  
Relative Search Volume ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Background This study aims to understand whether there is a seasonal change in the internet search interest for Toxoplasma by using the data derived from Google Trends (GT). Methods The present study searched for the relative search volume (RSV) for the search term ‘Toxoplasma’ in GT within six major English-speaking countries (Australia, New Zealand [Southern Hemisphere] and Canada, Ireland, the UK and the USA [Northern Hemisphere] from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2019, utilizing the category of ‘health’. Data regarding the RSV of Toxoplasma was obtained and further statistical analysis was performed in R software using the ‘season’ package. Results There were significantly seasonal patterns for the RSV of the search term ‘Toxoplasma’ in five countries (all p<0.05), except for the UK. A peak in December–March and a trough in July–September (Canada, Ireland, the UK and the USA) were observed, while a peak in June/August and a trough in December/February (Australia, New Zealand) were also found. Moreover, the presence of seasonal patterns regarding RSV for ‘Toxoplasma’ between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres was also found (both p<0.05), with a reversed meteorological month. Conclusions Overall, our study revealed the seasonal variation for Toxoplasma in using internet search data from GT, providing additional evidence on seasonal patterns in Toxoplasma.

scholarly journals More Depression-Related Public Concern After the Suicide of a Pop Star in China: Evidence From the Online Big Data Platform

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Zhang Yu ◽  
Tian Fu ◽  
Jia-Nan Zhou ◽  
Ping Ke ◽  
Yun-Xia Wang
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Search Engine ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Query Patterns

Background: In China, we have seen dramatic increases in public concern over depression and mental health after the suicide of some famous persons. The objective of this study is to investigate the changes of search-engine query patterns to monitor this phenomenon based on the tragic suicide of a young Chinese pop star, Kimi Qiao.Methods: The daily search volume for depression was retrieved from both the Baidu Index (BDI) and the Sina MicroBlog Index (SMI). Besides, the daily BDI for suicide, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, common cold, stomach cancer, and liver cancer were collected for comparison. According to the time of Qiao's suicide, all data were divided into two periods (i.e., Period One from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016 while Period Two ranged from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017). The paired t-test was used to compare the differences in search volumes between two periods. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to estimate correlations between the BDI and SMI for depression.Results: The average BDI for depression, BDI for suicide, and SMI for depression in Period Two were significantly higher than in Period One (p < 0.05). There was a strong positive correlation between the BDI and SMI for depression (r = 0.97, p < 0.001). And no significant difference in BDI for other diseases between the two periods was found.Conclusions: The changes of search-engine query patterns indicated that the celebrity's suicide might be able to improve the netizens' concern about depression in China. The study suggests publishing more practical knowledge and advice on depression through the Internet and social media, to improve the public's mental health literacy and help people to cope with their depressive symptoms appropriately.

scholarly journals A Selective Increase in OC Symptoms is Driving Information Seeking and Guideline Adherence During the Covid-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisa M. Loosen ◽  
Vasilisa Skvortsova ◽  
Tobias U. Hauser
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Pandemic Wave

AbstractBackgroundIncreased mental health problems as a reaction to stressful life events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, are common. Critically, successful adaptation helps reduce such symptoms to baseline, preventing long-term psychiatric disorders. It is thus important to understand whether and which psychiatric symptoms only show transient elevations, and which persist long-term and become chronically heightened. At particular risk for the latter trajectory are disorders with symptoms directly affected by the pandemic, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.MethodsIn this longitudinal large-scale study (N=416), we assessed how obsessive-compulsive (OC), anxiety, and depression symptoms changed throughout the course of the first pandemic wave in a sample of the general UK public. We further examined how these symptoms affected pandemic-related information seeking and adherence to governmental guidelines.FindingsAll psychiatric domains were initially elevated, but showed distinct adaptation patterns. Depression scores decreased during the first pandemic wave, however, OC symptoms further increased, even after the end of lockdown. These OC symptoms were directly linked to Covid-related information seeking which gave rise to higher adherence to government guidelines.InterpretationThe rise and persistence of OC symptoms, despite the ease of Covid-19 restrictions, shows that OCD is disproportionally and chronically affected by the pandemic. This is particularly worrying with regards to the long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on public mental health and indicates that patients with OCD may require particular treatment efforts.

scholarly journals Monitoring COVID-19 related public Interest and population Health Literacy in South Asia: An Internet Search-Interest Based Model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasan Symum ◽  
Kh M. Ali Sagor
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Population Health ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Search Volume

AbstractBackgroundInformation epidemiology based on internet search data can be used to model COVID-19 pandemic progressions and monitor population health literacy. However, the applicability of internet searches to monitor COVID-19 infections and public health awareness in South Asian countries are unclear.ObjectivesTo assess the association of public interest and health literacy in COVID-19 with the number of infected cases South Asian countries.Material and MethodsGoogle Trends data from January to March 2020 were used to correlate public interest and literacy with official data on COVID-19 cases using the relative search volume (RSV) index. Public interest in COVID-19 was retrieved with the search topic “Coronavirus (Virus)”. Similarly, search terms “hand wash”, “face mask”, “hand sanitizer”, “face shield” and “gloves” were used to retrieve RSV indices as a surrogate of health literacy. Country-level correlation analyses were performed for a time lag between 30 and +30 days.ResultsThere were significant positive correlations between COVID-19 related public interest and daily confirmed cases in countries expect Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. The highest public interest in South Asian Countries was on average 12 days before the local maximum of new confirmed cases. Similarly, web searches related to personal hygiene and preventive measures in south Asia correlated to the number of confirmed cases as well as national restriction measures.ConclusionPublic interest indicated by RSV indices can help to monitor the progression of an outbreak such as the current COVID-19 pandemic particularly in countries with a lack of diagnostic and surveillance capacity.

scholarly journals Monitoring HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis information seeking by combining digital and traditional data

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek C. Johnson ◽  
Alicia L. Nobles ◽  
Theodore L. Caputi ◽  
Michael Liu ◽  
Eric C. Leas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Testing ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Medicaid Coverage ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Under Performing ◽  
Exposure Prophylaxis

Abstract Background Public health is increasingly turning to non-traditional digital data to inform HIV prevention and control strategies. We demonstrate a parsimonious method using both traditional survey and internet search histories to provide new insights into HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) information seeking that can be easily extended to other settings. Method We modeled how US internet search volumes from 2019 for HIV testing and PrEP compared against expected search volumes for HIV testing and PrEP using state HIV prevalence and socioeconomic characteristics as predictors. States with search volumes outside the upper and lower bound confidence interval were labeled as either over or under performing. State performance was evaluated by (a) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designation as a hotspot for new HIV diagnoses (b) expanding Medicaid coverage. Results Ten states over-performed in models assessing information seeking for HIV testing, while eleven states under-performed. Thirteen states over-performed in models assessing internet searches for PrEP information, while thirteen states under-performed. States that expanded Medicaid coverage were more likely to over perform in PrEP models than states that did not expand Medicaid coverage. While states that were hotspots for new HIV diagnoses were more likely to over perform on HIV testing searches. Conclusion Our study derived a method of measuring HIV and PrEP information seeking that is comparable across states. Several states exhibited information seeking for PrEP and HIV testing that deviated from model assessments. Statewide search volume for PrEP information was affected by a state’s decision to expand Medicaid coverage. Our research provides health officials with an innovative way to monitor statewide interest in PrEP and HIV testing using a metric for information-seeking that is comparable across states.

scholarly journals Monitoring HIV Testing and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Information Seeking By Combining Digital and Traditional Data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Johnson ◽  
Alicia L. Nobles ◽  
Theodore L. Caputi ◽  
Michael Liu ◽  
Eric C. Leas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Testing ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Medicaid Coverage ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Under Performing ◽  
Exposure Prophylaxis

Abstract Background. Public health is increasingly turning to non-traditional digital data to inform HIV prevention and control strategies. We demonstrate a parsimonious method using both traditional survey and internet search histories to provide new insights into HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) information seeking that can be easily extended to other settings. Method. We modeled how US internet search volumes from 2019 for HIV testing and PrEP compared against expected search volumes for HIV testing and PrEP using state HIV prevalence and socioeconomic characteristics as predictors. States with search volumes outside the upper and lower bound confidence interval were labeled as either over or under performing. State performance was evaluated by (a) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designation as a hotspot for new HIV diagnoses (b) expanding Medicaid coverage. Results. Ten states over-performed in models assessing information seeking for HIV testing, while thirteen states under-performed. Fourteen states over-performed in models assessing internet searches for PrEP information, while 15 states under-performed. States that expanded Medicaid coverage were more likely to over perform in PrEP models than states that did not expand Medicaid coverage.Conclusion. Our study derived a method of measuring HIV and PrEP information seeking that is comparable across states. Several states exhibited information seeking for PrEP and HIV testing that deviated from model assessments. Statewide search volume for PrEP information was affected by a state’s decision to expand Medicaid coverage. Our research provides health officials with an innovative way to monitor statewide interest in PrEP and HIV testing using a metric for information-seeking that is comparable across states.

scholarly journals Children's Naive Concepts of OCD and How They Are Affected by Biomedical Versus Cognitive Behavioural Psychoeducation

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Butlin ◽  
C. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Biomedical Model ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Know How ◽  
Minimal Dose ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Conceptual Explanations

Background: How we conceptualize mental health conditions is important as it impacts on a wide range of mediators of treatment outcome. We do not know how children intuitively conceptualize obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), nor do we know the relative impact of biomedical or cognitive behavioural conceptual explanations, yet both are being widely used in psychoeducation for children with OCD. Aims: This study identified children's naive concepts of OCD, and the comparative impact of biomedical versus cognitive behavioural psychoeducation on perceived prognosis. Method: A within- and between-subjects experimental design was used. After watching a video of a young person describing their OCD, 202 children completed a questionnaire examining their concepts of the condition. They repeated the questionnaire following a second equivalent video, this time preceded by either biomedical or cognitive behavioural psychoeducation. Results: Participants’ naive concepts of OCD reflected predominant models of OCD in healthcare. Even at the minimal dose of psychoeducation, participants’ conceptualizations of OCD changed. Prior exposure to OCD resulted in a stronger alignment with the biomedical model. Exposure to biomedical psychoeducation resulted in participants predicting a slower recovery with less chance of complete remission. Conclusion: Psychoeducation for childhood OCD is impactful. Despite its wide use by clinicians and mental health services, biomedical psychoeducation appears to have deleterious effects. Children's concepts of OCD merit attention but caution should be applied in how they are targeted.

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