ArticleEJIFCC2021
Ups and Downs of COVID-19: Can We Predict the Future? Local Analysis with Google Trends for Forecasting the Burden of COVID-19 in Pakistan.
Article in EJIFCC, 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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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Forecasting and Surveillance of COVID-19 Spread Using Google Trends: Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- COVID-19 and thyroid disease: An infodemiological pilot study.World journal of methodology · 2022Article
- Construction and validation of a COVID-19 pandemic trend forecast model based on Google Trends data for smell and taste loss.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWe aim to study the utility of Google Trends search history data for demonstrating if a correlation may exist between web-based information and actual coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, as well as if such data can be used to forecast patterns of disease spikes. PATIENTS &
methodsWeekly data of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan was retrieved from online COVID-19 data banks for a period of 60 weeks. Search history related to COVID-19, coronavirus and the most common symptoms of disease was retrieved from Google Trends during the same period. Statistical analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between the two data sets. Search terms were adjusted for time-lag over weeks, to find the highest cross-correlation for each of the search terms.
resultsSearch terms of 'fever' and 'cough' were the most commonly searched online, followed by coronavirus and COVID. The highest peak correlations with the weekly case series, with a 1-week backlog, was noted for loss of smell and loss of taste. The combined model yielded a modest performance for forecasting positive cases. The linear regression model revealed loss of smell (adjusted R
conclusionsOur local analysis of Pakistan-based data seemingly confirms that Google trends can be used as an important tool for anticipating and predicting pandemic patterns and pre-hand preparedness in such unprecedented pandemic crisis.
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35046760PMC8751396What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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