Public interest in rheumatic diseases and rheumatologist in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence fro
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Rheumatology International https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-020-04728-9
INTERNATIONAL
OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH
Public interest in rheumatic diseases and rheumatologist in the United States during the COVID‑19 pandemic: evidence from Google Trends Sinan Kardeş1 · Ali Suat Kuzu1 · Rahul Raiker2 · Haig Pakhchanian3 · Mine Karagülle1 Received: 10 September 2020 / Accepted: 8 October 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract To evaluate the public interest in rheumatic diseases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Google Trends was queried to analyze search trends in the United States for numerous rheumatic diseases and also the interest in a rheumatologist. Three 8-week periods in 2020 ((March 15–May 9), (May 10–July 4), and (July 5–August 29)) were compared to similar periods of the prior 4 years (2016–2019). Compared to a similar time period between 2016 and 2019, a significant decrease was found in the relative search volume for more than half of the search terms during the initial March 15–May 9, 2020 period. However, this trend appeared to reverse during the July 5–August 29, 2020 period where the relative volume for nearly half of the search terms were not statistically significant compared to similar periods of the prior 4 years. In addition, this period showed a significant increase in relative volume for the terms: Axial spondyloarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s syndrome, antiphospholipid syndrome, scleroderma, Kawasaki disease, Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, and rheumatologist. There was a significant decrease in relative search volume for many rheumatic diseases between March 15 and May 9, 2020 when compared to similar periods during the prior 4 years. However, the trends reversed after the initial period ended. There was an increase in relative search for the term “rheumatologist” between July and August 2020 suggesting the need for rheumatologists during the COVID19 pandemic. Policymakers and healthcare providers should address the informational demands on rheumatic diseases and needs for rheumatologists by the general public during pandemics like COVID-19. Keywords Google search · Internet · Rheumatic disease · Rheumatologist
Introduction * Sinan Kardeş [email protected] Ali Suat Kuzu [email protected] Rahul Raiker [email protected] Haig Pakhchanian [email protected] Mine Karagülle [email protected] 1
Department of Medical Ecology and Hydroclimatology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Capa‑Fatih, 34093 Istanbul, Turkey
2
West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, USA
3
George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Science, Washington, DC, USA
The recent pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) has placed the rheumatologists and immunologists at the forefront of understanding the pathogenesis and management of this infection [1–4]. After severe acute respiratory s
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