Observational studyBMJ open2019
Google search histories of patients presenting to an emergency department: an observational study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- eHealth literacy in emergency care: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Evaluating Generative Artificial Intelligence Models' Responses to Questions About Scaphoid Fracture and Scaphoid Nonunion.Journal of hand surgery global online · 2026Article
- Scrolls, screens and search bars: exploring family search behaviour and the quality of online information on molar incisor hypomineralisation.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026Article
- Willingness to Share Internet Use Data for Research on Early Disease Detection: Cross-Sectional Survey.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Acceptability of Sharing Internet Browsing History for Cancer Research: Think-Aloud and Interview Study.JMIR cancer · 2026Article
- Pragmatic lessons for harnessing social media for health research through digital data donation post-API access.npj digital public health · 2026Review
- A Future of Self-Directed Patient Internet Research: Large Language Model-Based Tools Versus Standard Search Engines.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2025Article
- Harnessing Internet Search Data as a Potential Tool for Medical Diagnosis: Literature Review.JMIR mental health · 2025Review
- Developing an Educational Resource Aimed at Improving Adolescent Digital Health Literacy: Using Co-Design as Research Methodology.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Electronic Health Literacy Among Baby Boomers: A Typology.Health literacy research and practice · 2024Article
- Ethical Considerations in Research with Genomic Data.The New bioethics : a multidisciplinary journal of biotechnology and the body · 2023Article
- Orthopaedic Surgical Demand Index: A Measure of Need in the United States.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2022Article
- Evaluation of Medical Information on Male Sexual Dysfunction on Baidu Encyclopedia and Wikipedia: Comparative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Covidseeker: A Geospatial Temporal Surveillance Tool.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Developing, Deploying, and Evaluating Digital Mental Health Interventions in Spaces of Online Help- and Information-Seeking.Procedia computer science · 2022Article
- Perceived Utility and Characterization of Personal Google Search Histories to Detect Data Patterns Proximal to a Suicide Attempt in Individuals Who Previously Attempted Suicide: Pilot Cohort Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- Overuse of Health Care in the Emergency Services in Chile.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
- Predicting eating disorders from Internet activity.The International journal of eating disorders · 2020Article
- Article
- Variability in Language used on Social Media prior to Hospital Visits.Scientific reports · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo test patients' willingness to share and link their prior Google search histories with data from their electronic medical record (EMR), and to explore associations between search histories and clinical conditions.
designCross-sectional study of emergency department (ED) patients from 2016 to 2017.
settingAcademic medical centre ED.
participantsA total of 703 patients were approached; 334 of a volunteer sample of 411 (81%) reported having a Google account; 165 of those (49%) consented to share their Google search histories and EMR data; 119 (72%) were able to do so. 16 (13%) of those 119 patients had no data and were not included in the final count. Patients under the age of 18 or with a triage level of 1 were considered ineligible and were not approached.
main outcome measuresHealth relatedness of searches in the remote past and within 7 days of the ED visit, and associations between patients' clinical and demographic characteristics and their internet search volume and search content.
resultsThe 103 participants yielded 591 421 unique search queries; 37 469 (6%) were health related. In the 7 days prior to an ED visit, the percentage of health-related searches was 15%. During that time, 56% of patients searched for symptoms, 53% for information about a hospital and 23% about the treatment or management of a disease. 53% of participants who used Google in the week leading up to their ED visit searched for content directly related to their chief complaint.
conclusionsPatients were willing to allow researchers simultaneous access to their Google search histories and their EMR data. The change in volume and content of search activity prior to an ED visit suggests opportunities to anticipate and improve health care utilisation in advance of ED visits.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.