ArticleFrontiers in oncology2022
Brain Tumor Infodemiology: Worldwide Online Health-Seeking Behavior Using Google Trends and Wikipedia Pageviews.
Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Characteristics, Uses, and Biases of Studies Related to Malignancies Using Google Trends: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Infodemiology of West Nile Virus in Greece, 2024-2025, with Descriptive One Health Preparedness Evidence from Crete.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The COVID-19 pandemic and the worldwide online interest in telepsychiatry: an infodemiological study from 2004 to 2022.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Cancer incidence and digital information seeking in Germany: a retrospective observational study.Scientific reports · 2024Observational
- Article
- Wikipedia page views for health research: a review.Frontiers in big data · 2023Review
- Burden of Neurological Diseases in the Philippines as Revealed by Web Searches: An Infodemiological Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Infodemiology on diet and weight loss behavior before and during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia: Implication for public health promotion.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Searching the internet for information on common neurologic symptoms and diseases has been increasing in recent times. It is postulated that online search volume data could be utilized to gauge public awareness and real-world epidemiological data regarding brain tumors. Objectives: The goal of this study was to describe the pattern of online search queries of keywords related to neoplasms of the central nervous system (CNS). Methods: Using Google Trends, search activity from January 2004 - January 2021 was quantified using relative search volume (RSV). The average RSV for the first 3 years was compared with the final 3 years to account for percent change. Wikipedia article views from July 2007 - January 2021 were generated using Pageviews. Peaks in RSV and page views were then matched for related news. Results: "Brain tumor", "brain cancer", "glioblastoma", and "glioma" had the highest search volume. RSV from Google Trends and views of Wikipedia pages reflected comparable data in terms of known prevalence rankings of tumor subtypes. There were no observable trends that could correlate to the rising numbers of brain tumor cases worldwide. However, headlines of personalities being diagnosed with glioblastomas were mostly responsible for temporary increases in public interest. Conclusions: Transient rises in online search volume mirror public awareness of more aggressive CNS neoplasms that have a high burden of disease. Worldwide interest in brain tumors may not necessarily correspond to clinical occurrence, but may signify an unmet gap in providing accurate online information to neuro-oncologic patients.
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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.