Peaks in online inquiries into pharyngitis-related symptoms correspond with annual incidence rates.

Autor: Brkic FF; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria., Besser G; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria., Janik S; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria., Gadenstaetter AJ; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria., Parzefall T; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria., Riss D; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria., Liu DT; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria. david.liu@meduniwien.ac.at.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery [Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol] 2021 May; Vol. 278 (5), pp. 1653-1660. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Sep 23.
DOI: 10.1007/s00405-020-06362-4
Abstrakt: Objective: To assess whether web-based public inquiries into pharyngitis-related search terms follow annual incidence peaks of acute pharyngitis in various countries from both hemispheres.
Methods: Google Trends (GT) was utilized for systematic acquisition of pharyngitis-related search terms (sore throat, cough, fever, cold). Six countries from both hemispheres including four English (United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia) and two non-English speaking countries (Austria and Germany) were selected for further analysis. Time series data on relative search interest for pharyngitis-related search terms, covering a timeframe between 2004 and 2019 were extracted. Following reliability analysis using the intra-class correlation coefficient, the cosinor time series analysis was utilized to determine annual peaks in public-inquiries.
Results: The extracted datasets of GT proved to be highly reliable with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.83 to 1.0. Graphical visualization showed annual seasonal peaks for pharyngitis-related search terms in all included countries. The cosinor time series analysis revealed these peaks to be statistically significant during winter months (all p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Our study revealed seasonal variations for pharyngitis-related terms which corresponded to winter incidence peaks of acute pharyngitis. These results highlight the need for easily accessible information on diagnosis, therapy, and red-flag symptoms for this common disease. Accurately informed patients might contribute to a reduction of unnecessary clinic visits and potentially cutback the futile antibiotic overuse.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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