Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34431411›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of ophthalmology2022

Emerging application of Google Trends searches on "conjunctivitis" for tracing the course of COVID-19 pandemic.

Marco Pellegrini, Edoardo Ferrucci, Fabio Guaraldi, Federico Bernabei, Vincenzo Scorcia, Giuseppe Giannaccare

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of ophthalmology, 2022. 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
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 35% 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, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Forecasting and Surveillance of COVID-19 Spread Using Google Trends: Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Review
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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Marco PellegriniOphthalmology Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6419-6941
Edoardo FerrucciDepartment of Business and Management, LUISS Guido Carli, Rome, Italy.
Fabio GuaraldiOphthalmology Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Federico BernabeiOphthalmology Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Vincenzo ScorciaDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of "Magna Græcia," Catanzaro, Italy.
Giuseppe GiannaccareDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of "Magna Græcia," Catanzaro, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2617-0289
University of Bologna · ITMagna Graecia University · ITCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe aim of the present study was to use Google Trends for evaluating the association between the internet searches of the term "conjunctivitis" and the daily new cases of COVID-19.

methodsThe relative search volume (RSV) of conjunctivitis from January 1 to April 16, 2019 (control group), January 1 to April 16, 2020 (first wave), and October 1 to December 31, 2020 (second wave) was obtained using Google Trends in Italy, France, United Kingdom, and United States. The number of COVID-19 daily new cases in the same countries were retrieved from Worldometer. Lag time correlation analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between RSV and daily new cases (Pearson's correlation coefficient).

resultsDuring the first wave, the lagged RSV of conjunctivitis was significantly correlated with the number of COVID-19 daily new cases in all investigated countries. The highest correlation coefficients were obtained with a lag of 16 days in Italy (

conclusionGoogle Trends searches on conjunctivitis were significantly correlated with COVID-19 daily new cases during the first wave in Italy, France, United Kingdom, and United States, with a lag of 14-18 days. Repeating the analysis for the second wave, however, no significant correlations were found in any of the investigated countries.

Indexed as

ConjunctivitisCOVID-19HumansPandemicsSearch EngineUnited KingdomUnited StatesconjunctivitiscoronavirusCOVID-19Google Trendsinfodemiology

Identifiers

PMID34431411
PMCPMC9294616
OpenAlexW3194775955

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.