Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31596248›Full record

ArticleJMIR public health and surveillance2019

The Association Between Internet Searches and Moisturizer Prescription in Japan: Retrospective Observational Study.

Wataru Mimura, Manabu Akazawa

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Wataru MimuraDepartment of Public Health and Epidemiology, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5704-343X
Manabu AkazawaDepartment of Public Health and Epidemiology, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4112-6035
Meiji Pharmaceutical University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHeparinoid is a medication prescribed in Japan for skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis and dry skin. Heparinoid prescription has increased with instances of internet blogs recommending its use as a cosmetic.

objectiveThis study aimed to examine the prescription trends in moisturizer use and analyze their association with internet searches.

methodsWe used a claims database to identify pharmacy claims of heparinoid-only prescriptions in Japan. Additionally, we used Google Trends to obtain internet search data for the period between October 1, 2007, and September 31, 2017. To analyze the association between heparinoid prescriptions and internet searches, we performed an autoregressive integrated moving average approach for each time series.

resultsWe identified 155,733 patients who had been prescribed heparinoid. The number of prescriptions increased from 2011 onward, and related internet searches increased from 2012 onward. Internet searches were significantly correlated with total heparinoid prescription (correlation coefficient=.25, P=.005). In addition, internet searches were significantly correlated with heparinoid prescription in those aged 20-59 years at -1-month lag in Google Trends (correlation coefficient=.30, P=.001).

conclusionsGoogle searches related to heparinoid prescriptions showed a seasonal pattern and increased gradually over the preceding several years. Google searches were positively correlated with prescription trends. In addition, in a particular age group (20-59 years), prescriptions increased with the increase in internet searches. These results suggest that people obtained health-related information on the internet and that this affected their behavior and prescription requests.

Indexed as

Google Trendsheparinoidinfodemiologyinternetmoisturizertime series analysis

Identifiers

PMID31596248
PMCPMC6812878
OpenAlexW2965289405

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.