Dataset Information

More effective strategies are required to strengthen public awareness of COVID-19: Evidence from Google Trends.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed stress on the health and well-being of both Chinese people and the public worldwide. Global public interest in this new issue largely reflects people's attention to COVID-19 and their willingness to take precautionary actions. This study aimed to examine global public awareness of COVID-19 using Google Trends.

Methods

Using Google Trends, we retrieved public query data for terms of "2019-nCoV + SARS-CoV-2 + novel coronavirus?+?new coronavirus + COVID-19 + Corona Virus Disease 2019" between the 31^st December 2019 and the 24^th February 2020 in six major English-speaking countries, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Dynamic series analysis demonstrates the overall change trend of relative search volume (RSV) for the topic on COVID-19. We compared the top-ranking related queries and sub-regions distribution of RSV about COVID-19 across different countries. The correlation between daily search volumes on the topic related to COVID-19 and the daily number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 was analyzed.

Results

The overall search trend of RSV regarding COVID-19 increased during the early period of observing time and reached the first apex on 31^st January 2020. A shorter response time and a longer duration of public attention to COVID-19 was observed in public from the USA, the UK, Australia, and Canada, than that in Ireland and New Zealand. A slightly positive correlation between daily RSV about COVID-19 and the daily number of confirmed cases was observed (P?ConclusionsThe results suggest that public response time to COVID-19 was different across countries, and the overall duration of public attention was short. The current study reminds us that governments should strengthen the publicity of COVID-19 nationally, strengthen the public's vigilance and sensitivity to COVID-19, inform public the importance of protecting themselves with enough precautionary measures, and finally control the spread of COVID-19 globally.

SUBMITTER: Hu D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7182392 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

More effective strategies are required to strengthen public awareness of COVID-19: Evidence from Google Trends.

Hu Dingtao D Lou Xiaoqi X Xu Zhiwei Z Meng Nana N Xie Qiaomei Q Zhang Man M Zou Yanfeng Y Liu Jiatao J Sun Guoping G Wang Fang F

Journal of global health 20200601 1

<h4>Background</h4>The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed stress on the health and well-being of both Chinese people and the public worldwide. Global public interest in this new issue largely reflects people's attention to COVID-19 and their willingness to take precautionary actions. This study aimed to examine global public awareness of COVID-19 using Google Trends.<h4>Methods</h4>Using Google Trends, we retrieved public query data for terms of "2019-nCoV + SARS-CoV-2 + n ...[more]

PMID: 32373339

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Project description:Simple Summary In this study, we quantified public awareness regarding breast cancer associated with Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) in October using Google Trends data and a joinpoint regression analysis. We analyzed the impact of BCAM, Lung Cancer Awareness Month (LCAM), and Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (PCAM) on public awareness of the top three most common cancers in the U.S. from 2012 to 2021 using the relative search volume of Google Trends. The results imply that BCAM has successfully improved the public awareness of breast cancer in the U.S., while LCAM and PCAM had no impact on the awareness of lung and prostate cancers. BCAM could serve as a good example for organizations working on health observances or awareness campaigns. Abstract Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) has a long history of over 30 years, established in 1985 to occur every October, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation now leads the operation. There have been no studies to evaluate the impact of the BCAM on public awareness of breast cancer. We analyzed the impact of BCAM on public awareness of breast cancer in the U.S. from 2012 to 2021 using the relative search volume (RSV) of Google Trends as a surrogate. We also analyzed the impact of Lung Cancer Awareness Month (LCAM) and Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (PCAM) on public awareness of lung and prostate cancer, respectively, to see differences in their effectiveness among the health observances for the top three most common cancers in the U.S. We performed a joinpoint regression analysis to identify statistically significant time points of a change in trend. There were joinpoints around BCAM for “Breast cancer” every year from 2012 to 2021, with a significant increase in the weekly RSVs from 21.9% to 46.7%. Except for 2013 and 2015 for “Lung cancer”, when significant increases in the RSV at 1.8% and 1.2% per week were observed around LCAM, no joinpoints were noted around LCAM or PCAM. These results imply that BCAM has successfully improved the public awareness of breast cancer in the U.S. compared to other representative health observances, likely due to the effective involvement of non-medical industries, influencers affected by breast cancer, and an awareness symbol.

Project description:BackgroundEnd-of-life decisions, specifically the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide services, challenge traditional medical and ethical principles. Austria and Germany have decided to liberalize their laws restricting assisted suicide, thus reigniting the debate about a meaningful framework in which the practice should be embedded. Evidence of the relevance of assisted suicide and euthanasia for the general population in Germany and Austria is limited.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to examine whether the public awareness documented by search activities in the most frequently used search engine, Google, on the topics of palliative care, euthanasia, and advance health care directives changed with the implementation of palliative care services and new governmental regulations concerning end-of-life decisions.MethodsWe searched for policies, laws, and regulations promulgated or amended in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland between 2004 and 2020 and extracted data on the search volume for each search term topic from Google Trends as a surrogate of public awareness and interest. Annual averages were analyzed using the Joinpoint Regression Program.ResultsImportant policy changes yielded significant changes in search trends for the investigated topics. The enactment of laws regulating advance health care directives coincided with a significant drop in the volume of searches for the topic of euthanasia in all 3 countries (Austria: -24.48%, P=.02; Germany: -14.95%, P<.001; Switzerland: -11.75%, P=.049). Interest in palliative care increased with the availability of care services and the implementation of laws and policies to promote palliative care (Austria: 22.69%, P=.01; Germany: 14.39, P<.001; Switzerland: 17.59%, P<.001). The search trends for advance health care directives showed mixed results. While interest remained steady in Austria within the study period, it increased by 3.66% (P<.001) in Switzerland and decreased by 2.85% (P<.001) in Germany.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that legal measures securing patients' autonomy at the end of life may lower the search activities for topics related to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Palliative care may be a meaningful way to raise awareness of the different options for end-of-life care and to guide patients in their decision-making process regarding the same.

Dataset Information

More effective strategies are required to strengthen public awareness of COVID-19: Evidence from Google Trends.

Background

Methods

Results

Publications

More effective strategies are required to strengthen public awareness of COVID-19: Evidence from Google Trends.

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