ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2021
Using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to Access Google Data and Gain Insights Into Searches on Birth Control in Louisiana and Mississippi, 2014-2018: Infoveillance 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 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reproductive health awareness in Romania: women's knowledge, practices, and information-seeking behaviors.Contraception and reproductive medicine · 2026Article
- Exploring Language Used in Posts on r/birthcontrol: Case Study Using Data From Reddit Posts and Natural Language Processing to Advance Contraception Research.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- A Google Trends Approach to Identify Distinct Diurnal and Day-of-Week Web-Based Search Patterns Related to Conjunctivitis and Other Common Eye Conditions: Infodemiology Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIt is now common to search for health information online. A 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that 77% of online health seekers began their query at a search engine. The widespread use of online health information seeking also applies to women's reproductive health. Despite online interest in birth control, not much is known about related interests and concerns reflected in the search terms in the United States.
objectiveIn this study, we identify the top search terms on Google related to birth control in Louisiana and Mississippi and compare those results to the broader United States, examining how Google searches on birth control have evolved over time and identifying regional variation within states.
methodsWe accessed search data on birth control from 2014-2018 from 2 Google application programming interfaces (APIs), Google Trends and Google Health Trends. We selected Google as it is the most commonly used search engine. We focused our analysis on data from 2017 and compared with 2018 data as appropriate. To assess trends, we analyzed data from 2014 through 2018. To compare the relative search frequencies of the top queries across Louisiana, Mississippi, and the United States, we used the Google Health Trends API. Relative search volume by designated marketing area (DMA) gave us the rankings of search volume for each birth control method in each DMA as compared to one another.
resultsResults showed that when people searched for "birth control" in Louisiana and the broader United States, they were searching for information on a diverse spectrum of methods. This differs from Mississippi, where the data indicated people were mainly searching for information related to birth control pills. Across all locations, searches for birth control pills were significantly higher than any other queries related to birth control in the United States, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and this trend remained constant from 2014 to 2018. Regional level analysis showed variations in search traffic for birth control across each state.
conclusionsThe internet is a growing source of health information for many users, including information on birth control. Understanding popular Google search queries on birth control can inform in-person discussions initiated by family planning practitioners and broader birth control messaging campaigns. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/16543.
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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.