ArticleBMJ open2022
Global monitoring of public interest in preventive measures against COVID-19 via analysis of Google Trends: an infodemiology and infoveillance study.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. 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
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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early prediction of the outbreak risk of dengue fever in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, Vietnam: An analysis based on Google trends and statistical models.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2025Article
- Public interest in online searching of asthma information: insights from a Google trends analysis.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- A Cross-Sectional Survey to Identify Sociodemographic Factors Associated with the Frequency of Urinalysis in a Representative Sample of Adults in Poland, 2024.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has influenced people's concerns regarding infectious diseases and their preventive measures. However, the magnitude of the impact and the difference between countries are unclear. This study aimed to assess the magnitude of the impact of COVID-19 on public interest and people's behaviours globally in preventing infectious diseases while comparing international trends and sustainability.
designAn infodemiology and infoveillance study.
settingThe study employed a web-based data collection to delineate public interest regarding COVID-19 preventive measures using Google Trends. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: A relative search volume was assigned to a keyword, standardising it from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest share of the term searches. The search terms "coronavirus", "wash hand", "social distancing", "hand sanitizer" and "mask" were investigated across 196 different countries and regions from July 2018 to October 2021 and weekly reports of the relative search volume were obtained. Persistence of interest was assessed by comparing the first 20 weeks with the last 20 weeks of the study period.
resultsAlthough the relative search volume of "coronavirus" increased and was sustained at a significantly higher level (p<0.05) than before the pandemic declaration, globally, the trends and sustainability of the interest in preventable measures against COVID-19 varied between countries and regions.
conclusionsSustained interest in preventive measures differed globally, with regional differences noted among Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. The global differences should be considered for implementing effective interventions against COVID-19. The increased interest in preventive behaviours against COVID-19 may be related to overall infectious disease prevention.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.