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      Otolaryngology-related Google Search trends during the COVID-19 pandemic

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          Abstract

          Objective

          To assess trends of Google Search queries for symptoms and complaints encountered commonly in otolaryngology practices during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic when in-person care has been limited.

          Materials and methods

          In this cross-sectional study, data on Google Search queries in the United States for 30 otolaryngology-related terms were obtained from Google Trends. The means of relative search volume from the COVID-19 period (March 29, 2020 through May 16, 2020) were compared to similar periods from 2016 to 2019 using a t-test of two independent samples.

          Results

          In total, 16.6% of search terms had significant increases in relative search volume during the COVID-19 period, with the largest percentage increase for “can't smell” (124.4%, p = .006), followed by “allergies” (30.3%, p = .03), “voice pain” (26.1%, p = .008), and “ears ringing” (19.0%, p < .001). Of all search terms, 26.7% had significant decreases in relative search volume, including the largest percentage decrease for “laryngitis” (59.8%, p < .001), followed by “thyroid nodule” (54.4%, p < .001), “thyroid cancer” (45.6%, p < .001), and “ENT” (34.9%, p < .001).

          Conclusion

          This study demonstrates that Google search activity for many otolaryngology-related terms during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased or decreased significantly as compared to previous years. With reduced access to in-office otolaryngology care in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, these are important considerations for otolaryngology practices to meet the needs of patients who lack access to care.

          Highlights

          • Otolaryngology-related Google Search activity changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

          • Google Trends provides important insights into patients' needs during a pandemic.

          • Internet search data can guide teleheath implementation in otolaryngology practices.

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          Most cited references17

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          COVID-19 transforms health care through telemedicine: evidence from the field

          Abstract This study provides data on the feasibility and impact of video-enabled telemedicine use among patients and providers and its impact on urgent and non-urgent health care delivery from one large health system (NYU Langone Health) at the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. Between March 2nd and April 14th 2020, telemedicine visits increased from 369.1 daily to 866.8 daily (135% increase) in urgent care after the system-wide expansion of virtual health visits in response to COVID-19, and from 94.7 daily to 4209.3 (4345% increase) in non-urgent care post expansion. Of all virtual visits post expansion, 56.2% and 17.6% urgent and non-urgent visits, respectively, were COVID-19-related. Telemedicine usage was highest by patients aged 20-44, particularly for urgent care. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven rapid expansion of telemedicine use for urgent care and non-urgent care visits beyond baseline periods. This reflects an important change in telemedicine that other institutions facing the COVID-19 pandemic should anticipate.
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            Covid-19 and Health Care’s Digital Revolution

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              • Article: not found

              The Prevalence of Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

              To determine the pooled global prevalence of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in patients with the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Literature searches of PubMed, Embase, and Scopus were conducted on April 19, 2020, to include articles written in English that reported the prevalence of olfactory or gustatory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients. Search strategies developed for each database contained keywords such as anosmia, dysgeusia, and COVID-19. Resulting articles were imported into a systematic review software and underwent screening. Data from articles that met inclusion criteria were extracted and analyzed. Meta-analysis using pooled prevalence estimates in a random-effects model were calculated. Ten studies were analyzed for olfactory dysfunction (n = 1627), demonstrating 52.73% (95% CI, 29.64%-75.23%) prevalence among patients with COVID-19. Nine studies were analyzed for gustatory dysfunction (n = 1390), demonstrating 43.93% (95% CI, 20.46%-68.95%) prevalence. Subgroup analyses were conducted for studies evaluating olfactory dysfunction using nonvalidated and validated instruments and demonstrated 36.64% (95% CI, 18.31%-57.24%) and 86.60% (95% CI, 72.95%-95.95%) prevalence, respectively. Olfactory and gustatory dysfunction are common symptoms in patients with COVID-19 and may represent early symptoms in the clinical course of infection. Increased awareness of this fact may encourage earlier diagnosis and treatment, as well as heighten vigilance for viral transmission. To our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis to report on the prevalence of these symptoms in COVID-19 patients.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Am J Otolaryngol
                Am J Otolaryngol
                American Journal of Otolaryngology
                Published by Elsevier Inc.
                0196-0709
                1532-818X
                19 June 2020
                19 June 2020
                : 102615
                Affiliations
                [a ]Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 W Queen Ln, Philadelphia, PA 19129, United States of America
                [b ]Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1120 NW 14th St 5th Floor, Miami, FL 33136, United States of America
                [c ]Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. 2150 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 6B, Washington, DC 20037, United States of America
                [d ]Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Drexel University College of Medicine, and Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, 219 N. Broad St, 10th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States of America
                Author notes
                [* ]Corresponding author at: 219 N. Broad St, 10th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States of America. rtsataloff@ 123456phillyent.com
                Article
                S0196-0709(20)30309-4 102615
                10.1016/j.amjoto.2020.102615
                7303046
                cae79510-a65e-400a-b860-3d354faf068a
                © 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc.

                Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

                History
                : 12 June 2020
                Categories
                Article

                otolaryngology,google trends,internet search,covid-19,telehealth

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