ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2021
Google Trends for Pain Search Terms in the World's Most Populated Regions Before and After the First Recorded COVID-19 Case: Infodemiological Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Seasonal pattern, global search trend, and public interest in arthritis from 2004 to 2022: an infodemiology study.Immunologic research · 2025Article
- Causal relationship between COVID-19 and chronic pain: A mendelian randomization study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Impact of the pandemic and its containment measures in Europe upon aspects of affective impairments: a Google Trends informetrics study.Psychological medicine · 2023Review
- The Internet's Interest in Autism Peaks in April: A Google Trends Analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Article
- Public interest in different types of masks and its relationship with pandemic and policy measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study using Google Trends data.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- The impact of COVID-19 on chronic pain.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Mining Google Trends data for nowcasting and forecasting colorectal cancer (CRC) prevalence.PeerJ. Computer science · 2023Article
- Review
- Infodemiological study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on increased headache incidences at the world level.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Article
- Self-Medication Practices in Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundWeb-based analysis of search queries has become a very useful method in various academic fields for understanding timely and regional differences in the public interest in certain terms and concepts. Particularly in health and medical research, Google Trends has been increasingly used over the last decade.
objectiveThis study aimed to assess the search activity of pain-related parameters on Google Trends from among the most populated regions worldwide over a 3-year period from before the report of the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in these regions (January 2018) until December 2020.
methodsSearch terms from the following regions were used for the analysis: India, China, Europe, the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, and Indonesia. In total, 24 expressions of pain location were assessed. Search terms were extracted using the local language of the respective country. Python scripts were used for data mining. All statistical calculations were performed through exploratory data analysis and nonparametric Mann-Whitney U tests.
resultsAlthough the overall search activity for pain-related terms increased, apart from pain entities such as headache, chest pain, and sore throat, we observed discordant search activity. Among the most populous regions, pain-related search parameters for shoulder, abdominal, and chest pain, headache, and toothache differed significantly before and after the first officially confirmed COVID-19 cases (for all, P<.001). In addition, we observed a heterogenous, marked increase or reduction in pain-related search parameters among the most populated regions.
conclusionsAs internet searches are a surrogate for public interest, we assume that our data are indicative of an increased incidence of pain after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as these increased incidences vary across geographical and anatomical locations, our findings could potentially facilitate the development of specific strategies to support the most affected groups.
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