ArticleEuropean urology open science2022
Online Public Interest in Urological Cancers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: What Can "Dr. Google" Teach Us?
Article in European urology open science, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Characteristics, Uses, and Biases of Studies Related to Malignancies Using Google Trends: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Trends in public interest and vaccination coverage for Herpes Zoster.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- [Patient events in German urology: trend towards hybrid formats?]Urologie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Google searches for stress urinary incontinence treatment options: a worldwide trend analysis in the synthetic mesh controversy era.World journal of urology · 2023Article
- Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Interest of Google Queries in Cancer Screening and Cancers: A Retrospective Study.Cancers · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Uro-Oncological Patients: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- An Analysis of Google Trends During COVID-19: Determining Public Urological Cancer Concerns.Cureus · 2022Article
- Impact of the cervical cancer awareness months on public interest in Japan: A Google Trends analysis, 2012-2021.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Re-envisioning Patient Education and Public Awareness of Urological Cancers at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic.European urology open science · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 10 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has greatly affected health care priorities.
objectiveTo explore and analyse trends in public online search for urological cancers. DESIGN SETTING AND
participantsWe performed a retrospective analysis using the Google Health Trends online tool. Data related to urological cancer terms ("prostate cancer", "kidney cancer", and "bladder cancer") were extracted. We analysed trends for the whole world and for five countries: Italy, the UK, France, Sweden, and the USA. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: A join-point regression model was used to define significant changes in trends over time. Week percentage changes (WPCs) were estimated to summarise linear trends. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the search volume during the COVID-19 pandemic period (from January 2020 to April 2021) and the equivalent period of 2018 and 2019. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: During COVID-19, worldwide online interest decreased significantly for all urological cancers, especially prostate cancer (WPC: -13.9%,
conclusionsOnline interest in urological cancers decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies will tell us whether this will translate into worse oncological outcomes. PATIENT SUMMARY: Patients are increasingly searching the Internet to get information on cancer. We explored Google queries during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that online interest decreased significantly for all urological cancers, especially prostate cancer. We do not know yet whether this will translate into worse prognosis for patients.
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Registered trials
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.