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Chang YW, Chiang WL, Wang WH, Lin CY, Hung LC, Tsai YC, Suen JL, Chen YH. Google Trends-based non-English language query data and epidemic diseases: a cross-sectional study of the popular search behaviour in Taiwan. BMJ Open 2020; 10:e034156. [PMID: 32624467 PMCID: PMC7337886 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study developed a surveillance system suitable for monitoring epidemic outbreaks and assessing public opinion in non-English-speaking countries. We evaluated whether social media reflects social uneasiness and fear during epidemic outbreaks and natural catastrophes. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Freely available epidemic data in Taiwan. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE We used weekly epidemic incidence data obtained from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and online search query data obtained from Google Trends between 4 October 2015 and 2 April 2016. To validate whether non-English query keywords were useful surveillance tools, we estimated the correlation between online query data and epidemic incidence in Taiwan. RESULTS With our approach, we noted that keywords ('common cold'), ('fever') and ('cough') exhibited good to excellent correlation between Google Trends query data and influenza incidence (r=0.898, p<0.001; r=0.773, p<0.001; r=0.796, p<0.001, respectively). They also displayed high correlation with influenza-like illness emergencies (r=0.900, p<0.001; r=0.802, p<0.001; r=0.886, p<0.001, respectively) and outpatient visits (r=0.889, p<0.001; r=0.791, p<0.001; r=0.870, p<0.001, respectively). We noted that the query ('enterovirus') exhibited excellent correlation with the number of enterovirus-infected patients in emergency departments (r=0.914, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS These results suggested that Google Trends can be a good surveillance tool for epidemic outbreaks, even in Taiwan, the non-English-speaking country. Online search activity indicates that people are concerned about epidemic diseases, even if they do not visit hospitals. This prompted us to develop useful tools to monitor social media during an epidemic because such media usage reflects infectious disease trends more quickly than does traditional reporting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Wei Chang
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Department of Laboratory, Taitung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taitung, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Lun Chiang
- Pan Media, Taipei, Taiwan
- OMNInsight Company Limited, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Wen-Hung Wang
- Center for Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Yu Lin
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Center for Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Ling-Chien Hung
- Center for Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Chang Tsai
- Department of Laboratory, Chang-Hua Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Chang Hua, Taiwan
| | - Jau-Ling Suen
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Research Center of Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Yen-Hsu Chen
- Center for Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Department of Biological Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, HsinChu, Taiwan
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