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Zhou W, Zhang X, Zheng Y, Gao T, Liu X, Liang H. Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown and Its Evolution: A Case Study Based on Internet Searching Data during the Lockdown of Wuhan 2020 and Shanghai 2022. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:healthcare11030289. [PMID: 36766864 PMCID: PMC9914128 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11030289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been three years since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, which incurred huge damage both physically and psychologically on human's normal life. As a prevention measure, the lockdown was first adopted by Wuhan, then by a long list of Chinese cities and many other major cities around the world. Lockdown is the most restrictive social distancing strategy, turning out effective in mitigating the spreading of COVID-19 on the community level, which, however, cuts off all social interactions and isolates healthy people from each other. The isolated nature of the lockdown could induce severe mental health issues, forming one major source of depression and domestic violence. Given the potential side effect, a comprehensive investigation based on reliable data sources is needed to evaluate the real psychological impact of COVID-19 lockdown and its evolution over time, particularly in the time when the Omicron variant, known for its low death risk, dominates the pandemic. Based on the Baidu Searching Index data collected for Wuhan and Shanghai, two major cities in China that suffered from long-lasting (over two months) lockdowns in 2020 and 2022, respectively, it is found that the major psychological issue during the lockdown period is not induced by the spreading of COVID-19, but by the execution of lockdown. With the deepening of knowledge about COVID-19 and the decrease in the death risk, the psychological impact of lockdown keeps increasing, while the impact of virus spreading becomes less important and even irrelevant to depression and domestic violence issues. The findings reveal that from the psychological perspective, the negative effect of lockdown already overweighs the positive one, which is especially true for the Omicron variant provided its almost ignorable death risk. Therefore, it is necessary to re-evaluate the yield and cost of lockdown for those countries where the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet come to an end.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenyuan Zhou
- Dong Furen Institute of Economic and Social Development, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Xiaoqi Zhang
- Dong Furen Institute of Economic and Social Development, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100836, China
- Correspondence:
| | - Yanqiao Zheng
- School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
| | - Tutiantian Gao
- Dong Furen Institute of Economic and Social Development, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Xiaobei Liu
- Dong Furen Institute of Economic and Social Development, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Han Liang
- Dong Furen Institute of Economic and Social Development, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
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Chen W, Boggero A, Del Puente G, Olcese M, Prestia D, Jahrami H, Chalghaf N, Guelmami N, Azaiez F, Bragazzi NL. Googling for Suicide-Content and Quality Analysis of Suicide-Related Websites: Thematic Analysis. JMIR Form Res 2021; 5:e29146. [PMID: 34689118 PMCID: PMC8663606 DOI: 10.2196/29146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2021] [Revised: 08/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Suicide represents a public health concern, imposing a dramatic burden. Prosuicide websites are “virtual pathways” facilitating a rise in suicidal behaviors, especially among socially isolated, susceptible individuals. Objective The aim of this study is to characterize suicide-related webpages in the Italian language. Methods The first 5 most commonly used search engines in Italy (ie, Bing, Virgilio, Yahoo, Google, and Libero) were mined using the term “suicidio” (Italian for suicide). For each search, the first 100 webpages were considered. Websites resulting from each search were collected and duplicates deleted so that unique webpages could be analyzed and rated with the HONcode instrument Results A total of 65 webpages were included: 12.5% (8/64) were antisuicide and 6.3% (4/64) explicitly prosuicide. The majority of the included websites had a mixed or neutral attitude toward suicide (52/64, 81.2%) and had informative content and purpose (39/64, 60.9%). Most webpages targeted adolescents as an age group (38/64, 59.4%), contained a reference to other psychiatric disorders or comorbidities (42/64, 65.6%), included medical/professional supervision or guidance (45/64, 70.3%), lacked figures or pictures related to suicide (41/64, 64.1%), and did not contain any access restraint (62/64, 96.9%). The major shortcoming to this study is the small sample size of webpages analyzed and the search limited to the keyword “suicide.” Conclusions Specialized mental health professionals should try to improve their presence online by providing high-quality material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, Xiamen Xianyue Hospital, Xiamen, China
| | - Andrea Boggero
- Department of Educational Science, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giovanni Del Puente
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal/Child Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Martina Olcese
- Department of Educational Science, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Davide Prestia
- Department of Psychiatry, Istituto di ricovero e cura a carattere scientifico Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Haitham Jahrami
- College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain.,Ministry of Health, Manama, Bahrain
| | - Nasr Chalghaf
- Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Noomen Guelmami
- Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Kef, University of Jendouba, Jendouba, Tunisia
| | - Fairouz Azaiez
- Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Nicola Luigi Bragazzi
- Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Knipe D, Gunnell D, Evans H, John A, Fancourt D. Is Google Trends a useful tool for tracking mental and social distress during a public health emergency? A time-series analysis. J Affect Disord 2021; 294:737-744. [PMID: 34348169 PMCID: PMC8411666 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Google Trends data are increasingly used by researchers as an indicator of population mental health, but few studies have investigated the validity of this approach during a public health emergency. METHODS Relative search volumes (RSV) for the topics depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide, suicidal ideation, loneliness, and abuse were obtained from Google Trends. We used graphical and time-series approaches to compare daily trends in searches for these topics against population measures of these outcomes recorded using validated self-report scales (PHQ-9; GAD-7; UCLA-3) in a weekly survey (n = ~70,000) of the impact COVID-19 on psychological and social experiences in the UK population (21/03/2020 to 21/08/ 2020). RESULTS Self-reported levels of depression, anxiety, self-harm/suicidal ideation, self-harm, loneliness and abuse decreased during the period studied. There was no evidence of an association between self-reported anxiety, self-harm, abuse and RSV on Google Trends. Trends in Google topic RSV for depression and suicidal ideation were inversely associated with self-reports of these outcomes (p = 0.03 and p = 0.04, respectively). However, there was statistical and graphical evidence that self-report and Google searches for loneliness (p < 0.001) tracked one another. LIMITATIONS No age/sex breakdown of Google Trends data available. Survey respondents were not representative of the UK population and no pre-pandemic data were available. CONCLUSION Google Trends data do not appear to be a useful indicator of changing levels of population mental health during a public health emergency, but may have some value as an indicator of loneliness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duleeka Knipe
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - David Gunnell
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.; National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
| | - Hannah Evans
- Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea, UK
| | - Ann John
- Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea, UK
| | - Daisy Fancourt
- Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK
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Ganasegeran K, Ch'ng ASH, Aziz ZA, Looi I. Population's health information-seeking behaviors and geographic variations of stroke in Malaysia: an ecological correlation and time series study. Sci Rep 2020; 10:11353. [PMID: 32647336 PMCID: PMC7347868 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68335-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Stroke has emerged as a major public health concern in Malaysia. We aimed to determine the trends and temporal associations of real-time health information-seeking behaviors (HISB) and stroke incidences in Malaysia. We conducted a countrywide ecological correlation and time series study using novel internet multi-timeline data stream of 6,282 hit searches and conventional surveillance data of 14,396 stroke cases. We searched popular search terms related to stroke in Google Trends between January 2004 and March 2019. We explored trends by comparing average relative search volumes (RSVs) by month and weather through linear regression bootstrapping methods. Geographical variations between regions and states were determined through spatial analytics. Ecological correlation analysis between RSVs and stroke incidences was determined via Pearson's correlations. Forecasted model was yielded through exponential smoothing. HISB showed both cyclical and seasonal patterns. Average RSV was significantly higher during Northeast Monsoon when compared to Southwest Monsoon (P < 0.001). "Red alerts" were found in specific regions and states. Significant correlations existed within stroke related queries and actual stroke cases. Forecasted model showed that as HISB continue to rise, stroke incidence may decrease or reach a plateau. The results have provided valuable insights for immediate public health policy interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurubaran Ganasegeran
- Clinical Research Center, Seberang Jaya Hospital, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.
| | - Alan Swee Hock Ch'ng
- Clinical Research Center, Seberang Jaya Hospital, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
- Department of Medicine, Seberang Jaya Hospital, Penang, Malaysia
| | - Zariah Abdul Aziz
- Clinical Research Centre, Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Terengganu, Malaysia
- Medical Department, Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital, Terengganu, Malaysia
| | - Irene Looi
- Clinical Research Center, Seberang Jaya Hospital, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
- Department of Medicine, Seberang Jaya Hospital, Penang, Malaysia
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Majeed S, Zhou Z, Lu C, Ramkissoon H. Online Tourism Information and Tourist Behavior: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis Based on a Self-Administered Survey. Front Psychol 2020; 11:599. [PMID: 32373008 PMCID: PMC7186422 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
This study presents the interacting phenomena of perceptions of tourist destination online content (TDOC) and tourists’ behavioral intentions with a mediating role of tourists’ satisfaction, which is as yet under-explored in hospitality and tourism research. A model based on three main constructs, namely TDOC (with sub-constructs of online information quality and user-friendly accessibility), satisfaction, and tourists’ behavioral intentions [with sub-constructs of intentions to visit a tourist destination and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)], is presented to determine the growth of tourism business with the internet. Data were collected via a questionnaire-based survey from 413 tourists staying at hotels in Lahore city in Pakistan. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to statistically analyze the gathered data. The findings indicate that tourists’ perceptions of TDOC directly influence their behavioral intentions, while tourists’ satisfaction exerts a mediating influence between tourists’ perceptions of TDOC and their behavioral intentions. Taking advantage of an economical and widespread online environment, destination marketing organizations could attract more tourists by fostering confidence in TDOC and positive eWOM to remain competitive in the long run. Important theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salman Majeed
- Department of Marketing, College of Management, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhimin Zhou
- Department of Marketing, College of Management, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Changbao Lu
- School of Economics and Management, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Haywantee Ramkissoon
- Derby Business School, College of Business, Law and Social Sciences, Derby, United Kingdom.,Monash Business School, Department of Marketing, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.,College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Bae Y, Seong Y, Kim SH, Kim S. Clinical Characteristics of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Suicide Attempts among Psychiatric Patients in Korea: A Retrospective Chart Review. Psychiatry Investig 2020; 17:320-330. [PMID: 32213802 PMCID: PMC7176559 DOI: 10.30773/pi.2019.0269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Limited data exist on non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts among psychiatric patients in Korea. In this study, we investigated the clinical characteristics of patients who engaged in NSSI and/or suicide attempts. METHODS We performed a retrospective medical chart review of patients with NSSI and/or suicide attempts at the psychiatric department of a university medical center in Seoul between 2017 and 2019. According to their history, patients were allocated to one of three groups: NSSI only, suicide attempts only and NSSI and suicide attempts group. Groups were compared based on sociodemographic characteristics and psychological assessments. RESULTS Overall, 80 patients with NSSI and/or suicide attempts were evaluated. Patients with NSSI and suicide attempts were more likely to be female than the other two groups. Patients with NSSI and suicide attempts were more likely to suffer from Cluster B personality disorder than the other groups. And patients with NSSI and suicide attempts scored significantly higher on novelty-seeking in TCI and RC8, RC9 in MMPI-2. CONCLUSION Patients with NSSI and/or suicide attempts were more likely to be female, younger, and showed higher levels of psychological disturbances. These findings highlight the importance of early detection and intervention for patients with NSSI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yubeen Bae
- Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Yoanna Seong
- Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Seok Hyeon Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Sojung Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Martins-Filho PR, Santos VS. No evidence supports the use of ether and chloroform inhalation for treating COVID-19. Rev Panam Salud Publica 2020; 44:e41. [PMID: 32269593 PMCID: PMC7137810 DOI: 10.26633/rpsp.2020.41] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Paulo Ricardo Martins-Filho
- Federal University of Sergipe Federal University of Sergipe São Cristóvão Brazil Federal University of Sergipe São Cristóvão, Brazil
| | - Victor Santana Santos
- Universidade Federal de Alagoas Universidade Federal de Alagoas Arapiraca Brazil Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Arapiraca. Brazil
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Memon SA, Razak S, Weber I. Lifestyle Disease Surveillance Using Population Search Behavior: Feasibility Study. J Med Internet Res 2020; 22:e13347. [PMID: 32012050 PMCID: PMC7011125 DOI: 10.2196/13347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background As the process of producing official health statistics for lifestyle diseases is slow, researchers have explored using Web search data as a proxy for lifestyle disease surveillance. Existing studies, however, are prone to at least one of the following issues: ad-hoc keyword selection, overfitting, insufficient predictive evaluation, lack of generalization, and failure to compare against trivial baselines. Objective The aims of this study were to (1) employ a corrective approach improving previous methods; (2) study the key limitations in using Google Trends for lifestyle disease surveillance; and (3) test the generalizability of our methodology to other countries beyond the United States. Methods For each of the target variables (diabetes, obesity, and exercise), prevalence rates were collected. After a rigorous keyword selection process, data from Google Trends were collected. These data were denormalized to form spatio-temporal indices. L1-regularized regression models were trained to predict prevalence rates from denormalized Google Trends indices. Models were tested on a held-out set and compared against baselines from the literature as well as a trivial last year equals this year baseline. A similar analysis was done using a multivariate spatio-temporal model where the previous year’s prevalence was included as a covariate. This model was modified to create a time-lagged regression analysis framework. Finally, a hierarchical time-lagged multivariate spatio-temporal model was created to account for subnational trends in the data. The model trained on US data was, then, applied in a transfer learning framework to Canada. Results In the US context, our proposed models beat the performances of the prior work, as well as the trivial baselines. In terms of the mean absolute error (MAE), the best of our proposed models yields 24% improvement (0.72-0.55; P<.001) for diabetes; 18% improvement (1.20-0.99; P=.001) for obesity, and 34% improvement (2.89-1.95; P<.001) for exercise. Our proposed across-country transfer learning framework also shows promising results with an average Spearman and Pearson correlation of 0.70 for diabetes and 0.90 and 0.91 for obesity, respectively. Conclusions Although our proposed models beat the baselines, we find the modeling of lifestyle diseases to be a challenging problem, one that requires an abundance of data as well as creative modeling strategies. In doing so, this study shows a low-to-moderate validity of Google Trends in the context of lifestyle disease surveillance, even when applying novel corrective approaches, including a proposed denormalization scheme. We envision qualitative analyses to be a more practical use of Google Trends in the context of lifestyle disease surveillance. For the quantitative analyses, the highest utility of using Google Trends is in the context of transfer learning where low-resource countries could benefit from high-resource countries by using proxy models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahan Ali Memon
- Language Technologies Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | | | - Ingmar Weber
- Social Computing Department, Qatar Computing Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar
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Chai Y, Luo H, Zhang Q, Cheng Q, Lui CSM, Yip PSF. Developing an early warning system of suicide using Google Trends and media reporting. J Affect Disord 2019; 255:41-49. [PMID: 31125860 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.05.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2019] [Revised: 05/12/2019] [Accepted: 05/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Conventional surveillance systems for suicides typically suffer from a substantial time lag of six months to two years. This study aims to develop an early warning system of possible suicide outbreaks in Hong Kong using Google Trends and suicide-related media reporting. METHODS Data on 3,534 suicides from 2011 to 2015 were obtained from Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, and the Coroner's Court. Using data from Google Trends and features extracted from media reporting on suicide news, we fitted Poisson regression models to predict the number and estimate the intensity of suicides on a weekly basis, for six subgroups, defined by gender and age. We adopted the cumulative sum (CUSUM) control chart-based method to identify outbreaks of suicide. RESULTS The proposed model was able to predict the number of suicides with reasonably low normalized root mean squared errors, ranging from 15.6% for young females to 24.16% for old females. The suicide intensity curves were well captured by the proposed models for young males and females, but not for other groups. The Sensitivity, Precision and F1 Score of the CUSUM-based method were 50%, 100% and 67% for young females, and 93%, 54% and 68% for young males. LIMITATIONS This study focused only on predicting the number of suicides in the current week, not in the future weeks. The model did not include social media, socioeconomic and climate data. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that Google Trends search terms and media reporting data may be valuable data sources for predicting possible outbreak of suicides in Hong Kong. The proposed system could support effective and targeted interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Chai
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, Faculty of social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Hao Luo
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, Faculty of social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Qingpeng Zhang
- School of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Guangdong, China.
| | - Qijin Cheng
- Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | | | - Paul S F Yip
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, Faculty of social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Bhattacharya S. Predicting emerging and re-emerging disease outbreaks through internet search trends: An analysis from India. AIMS Public Health 2019; 6:1-3. [PMID: 30931338 PMCID: PMC6433613 DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2019.1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Mavragani A, Ochoa G, Tsagarakis KP. Assessing the Methods, Tools, and Statistical Approaches in Google Trends Research: Systematic Review. J Med Internet Res 2018; 20:e270. [PMID: 30401664 PMCID: PMC6246971 DOI: 10.2196/jmir.9366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Revised: 05/07/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Background In the era of information overload, are big data analytics the answer to access and better manage available knowledge? Over the last decade, the use of Web-based data in public health issues, that is, infodemiology, has been proven useful in assessing various aspects of human behavior. Google Trends is the most popular tool to gather such information, and it has been used in several topics up to this point, with health and medicine being the most focused subject. Web-based behavior is monitored and analyzed in order to examine actual human behavior so as to predict, better assess, and even prevent health-related issues that constantly arise in everyday life. Objective This systematic review aimed at reporting and further presenting and analyzing the methods, tools, and statistical approaches for Google Trends (infodemiology) studies in health-related topics from 2006 to 2016 to provide an overview of the usefulness of said tool and be a point of reference for future research on the subject. Methods Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for selecting studies, we searched for the term “Google Trends” in the Scopus and PubMed databases from 2006 to 2016, applying specific criteria for types of publications and topics. A total of 109 published papers were extracted, excluding duplicates and those that did not fall inside the topics of health and medicine or the selected article types. We then further categorized the published papers according to their methodological approach, namely, visualization, seasonality, correlations, forecasting, and modeling. Results All the examined papers comprised, by definition, time series analysis, and all but two included data visualization. A total of 23.1% (24/104) studies used Google Trends data for examining seasonality, while 39.4% (41/104) and 32.7% (34/104) of the studies used correlations and modeling, respectively. Only 8.7% (9/104) of the studies used Google Trends data for predictions and forecasting in health-related topics; therefore, it is evident that a gap exists in forecasting using Google Trends data. Conclusions The monitoring of online queries can provide insight into human behavior, as this field is significantly and continuously growing and will be proven more than valuable in the future for assessing behavioral changes and providing ground for research using data that could not have been accessed otherwise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amaryllis Mavragani
- Department of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriela Ochoa
- Department of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Verma M, Kishore K, Kumar M, Sondh AR, Aggarwal G, Kathirvel S. Google Search Trends Predicting Disease Outbreaks: An Analysis from India. Healthc Inform Res 2018; 24:300-308. [PMID: 30443418 PMCID: PMC6230529 DOI: 10.4258/hir.2018.24.4.300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2018] [Revised: 09/30/2018] [Accepted: 10/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives Prompt detection is a cornerstone in the control and prevention of infectious diseases. The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project of India identifies outbreaks, but it does not exactly predict outbreaks. This study was conducted to assess temporal correlation between Google Trends and Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) data and to determine the feasibility of using Google Trends for the prediction of outbreaks or epidemics. Methods The Google search queries related to malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, and enteric fever for Chandigarh union territory and Haryana state of India in 2016 were extracted and compared with presumptive form data of the IDSP. Spearman correlation and scatter plots were used to depict the statistical relationship between the two datasets. Time trend plots were constructed to assess the correlation between Google search trends and disease notification under the IDSP Results Temporal correlation was observed between the IDSP reporting and Google search trends. Time series analysis of the Google Trends showed strong correlation with the IDSP data with a lag of −2 to −3 weeks for chikungunya and dengue fever in Chandigarh (r > 0.80) and Haryana (r > 0.70). Malaria and enteric fever showed a lag period of −2 to −3 weeks with moderate correlation. Conclusions Similar results were obtained when applying the results of previous studies to specific diseases, and it is considered that many other diseases should be studied at the national and sub-national levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madhur Verma
- Department of Community Medicine, Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College and Hospital, Karnal, India
| | - Kamal Kishore
- Department of Biostatistics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India
| | - Mukesh Kumar
- Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
| | - Aparajita Ravi Sondh
- State Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) Cell, Department of Health, Haryana, India
| | - Gaurav Aggarwal
- Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP), Chandigarh Administration, Chandigarh, India
| | - Soundappan Kathirvel
- Department of Community Medicine, School of Public Health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India
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Gianfredi V, Bragazzi NL, Mahamid M, Bisharat B, Mahroum N, Amital H, Adawi M. Monitoring public interest toward pertussis outbreaks: an extensive Google Trends-based analysis. Public Health 2018; 165:9-15. [PMID: 30342281 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2018.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2018] [Revised: 07/22/2018] [Accepted: 09/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease. Despite this, it remains a major health problem among children in developing countries and in recent years, has re-emerged and has led to considerable outbreaks. Pertussis surveillance is of paramount importance; however, classical monitoring approaches are plagued by some shortcomings, such as considerable time delay and potential underestimation/underreporting of cases. STUDY DESIGN This study aims at investigating the possibility of using Google Trends (GT) as an instrument for tracking pertussis outbreaks to see if infodemiology and infoveillance approaches could overcome the previously mentioned issues because they are based on real-time monitoring and tracking of web-related activities. METHODS In the present study, GT was mined from inception (01 January 2004) to 31 December 2015 in the different European countries. Pertussis was searched using the 'search topic' strategy. Pertussis-related GT figures were correlated with the number of pertussis cases and deaths retrieved from the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control database. RESULTS At the European countries level, correlation between pertussis cases and GT-based search volumes was very large (ranging from 0.94 to 0.97) from 2004 to 2015. When examining each country, however, only a few reached the threshold of statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS GT could be particularly useful in pertussis surveillance and control, provided that the algorithm is better adjusted and refined at the country level.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Gianfredi
- School of Specialization in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - N L Bragazzi
- Postgraduate School of Public Health, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
| | - M Mahamid
- EMMS Nazareth Hospital, Nazareth, Israel; Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel
| | - B Bisharat
- EMMS Nazareth Hospital, Nazareth, Israel; Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel; The Society for Health Promotion of the Arab Community, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Nazareth, Israel
| | - N Mahroum
- Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, And Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - H Amital
- Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, And Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - M Adawi
- Padeh and Ziv Medical Centers, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Zefat, Israel
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Tana JC, Kettunen J, Eirola E, Paakkonen H. Diurnal Variations of Depression-Related Health Information Seeking: Case Study in Finland Using Google Trends Data. JMIR Ment Health 2018; 5:e43. [PMID: 29792291 PMCID: PMC5990858 DOI: 10.2196/mental.9152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2017] [Revised: 03/16/2018] [Accepted: 03/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Some of the temporal variations and clock-like rhythms that govern several different health-related behaviors can be traced in near real-time with the help of search engine data. This is especially useful when studying phenomena where little or no traditional data exist. One specific area where traditional data are incomplete is the study of diurnal mood variations, or daily changes in individuals' overall mood state in relation to depression-like symptoms. OBJECTIVE The objective of this exploratory study was to analyze diurnal variations for interest in depression on the Web to discover hourly patterns of depression interest and help seeking. METHODS Hourly query volume data for 6 depression-related queries in Finland were downloaded from Google Trends in March 2017. A continuous wavelet transform (CWT) was applied to the hourly data to focus on the diurnal variation. Longer term trends and noise were also eliminated from the data to extract the diurnal variation for each query term. An analysis of variance was conducted to determine the statistical differences between the distributions of each hour. Data were also trichotomized and analyzed in 3 time blocks to make comparisons between different time periods during the day. RESULTS Search volumes for all depression-related query terms showed a unimodal regular pattern during the 24 hours of the day. All queries feature clear peaks during the nighttime hours around 11 PM to 4 AM and troughs between 5 AM and 10 PM. In the means of the CWT-reconstructed data, the differences in nighttime and daytime interest are evident, with a difference of 37.3 percentage points (pp) for the term "Depression," 33.5 pp for "Masennustesti," 30.6 pp for "Masennus," 12.8 pp for "Depression test," 12.0 pp for "Masennus testi," and 11.8 pp for "Masennus oireet." The trichotomization showed peaks in the first time block (00.00 AM-7.59 AM) for all 6 terms. The search volumes then decreased significantly during the second time block (8.00 AM-3.59 PM) for the terms "Masennus oireet" (P<.001), "Masennus" (P=.001), "Depression" (P=.005), and "Depression test" (P=.004). Higher search volumes for the terms "Masennus" (P=.14), "Masennustesti" (P=.07), and "Depression test" (P=.10) were present between the second and third time blocks. CONCLUSIONS Help seeking for depression has clear diurnal patterns, with significant rise in depression-related query volumes toward the evening and night. Thus, search engine query data support the notion of the evening-worse pattern in diurnal mood variation. Information on the timely nature of depression-related interest on an hourly level could improve the chances for early intervention, which is beneficial for positive health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Christoffer Tana
- Department of Health and Welfare, Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland.,Information Studies, School of Business and Economics, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Jyrki Kettunen
- Department of Health and Welfare, Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Emil Eirola
- Department of Business Management and Analytics, Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Heikki Paakkonen
- Department of Health and Welfare, Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland
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15
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Adawi M, Amital H, Mahamid M, Amital D, Bisharat B, Mahroum N, Sharif K, Guy A, Adawi A, Mahagna H, Abu Much A, Watad S, Bragazzi NL, Watad A. Searching the Internet for psychiatric disorders among Arab and Jewish Israelis: insights from a comprehensive infodemiological survey. PeerJ 2018; 6:e4507. [PMID: 29576974 PMCID: PMC5857171 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Accepted: 02/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Israel represents a complex and pluralistic society comprising two major ethno-national groups, Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, which differ in terms of religious and cultural values as well as social constructs. According to the so-called “diversification hypothesis”, within the framework of e-health and in the era of new information and communication technologies, seeking online health information could be a channel to increase health literacy, especially among disadvantaged groups. However, little is known concerning digital seeking behavior and, in particular, digital mental health literacy. This study was conducted in order to fill in this gap. Concerning raw figures, unadjusted for confounding variables (time, population size, Internet penetration index, disease rate), “depression” searched in Hebrew was characterized by 1.5 times higher search volumes, slightly declining throughout time, whereas relative search volumes (RSVs) related to “depression” searched in Arabic tended to increase over the years. Similar patterns could be detected for “phobia” (in Hebrew 1.4-fold higher than in Arabic) and for “anxiety” (with the searches performed in Hebrew 2.3 times higher than in Arabic). “Suicide” in Hebrew was searched 2.0-fold more than in Arabic (interestingly for both languages search volumes exhibited seasonal cyclic patterns). Eating disorders were searched more in Hebrew: 8.0-times more for “bulimia”, whilst “anorexia” was searched in Hebrew only. When adjusting for confounding variables, association between digital seeking behavior and ethnicity remained statistically significant (p-value < 0.0001) for all psychiatric disorders considered in the current investigation, except for “bulimia” (p = 0.989). More in details, Israeli Arabs searched for mental health disorders less than Jews, apart from “depression”. Arab and Jewish Israelis, besides differing in terms of language, religion, social and cultural values, have different patterns of usage of healthcare services and provisions, as well as e-healthcare services concerning mental health. Policy- and decision-makers should be aware of this and make their best efforts to promote digital health literacy among the Arab population in Israel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Adawi
- Padeh and Ziv Medical Centers, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Zefat, Israel
| | - Howard Amital
- Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Mahmud Mahamid
- EMMS Nazareth Hospital, Nazareth, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel
| | - Daniela Amital
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ness Ziona-Beer Yaacov Mental Health Center, Beer-Yaacov, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Bishara Bisharat
- EMMS Nazareth Hospital, Nazareth, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel.,The Society for Health Promotion of the Arab Community, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Nazareth, Israel
| | - Naim Mahroum
- Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Kassem Sharif
- Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Adi Guy
- Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Amin Adawi
- EMMS Nazareth Hospital, Nazareth, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel
| | - Hussein Mahagna
- Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Arsalan Abu Much
- Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Samaa Watad
- Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Tel Aviiv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Nicola Luigi Bragazzi
- Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), School of Public Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Abdulla Watad
- Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Department of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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16
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Muñoz-Sánchez JL, Delgado C, Parra-Vidales E, Franco-Martín M. Facilitating Factors and Barriers to the Use of Emerging Technologies for Suicide Prevention in Europe: Multicountry Exploratory Study. JMIR Ment Health 2018; 5:e7. [PMID: 29367183 PMCID: PMC5803527 DOI: 10.2196/mental.7784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2017] [Revised: 10/05/2017] [Accepted: 10/29/2017] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study provides an analysis on the use of emerging technologies for the prevention of suicide in 8 different European countries. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to analyze the potentiality of using emerging technologies in the area of suicide prevention based on the opinion of different professionals involved in suicide prevention. METHODS Opinions of 3 groups of stakeholders (ie, relevant professionals in suicide field) were gathered using a specifically designed questionnaire to explore dimensions underlying perceptions of facilitating factors and barriers in relation to the use of emerging technologies for suicide prevention. RESULTS Goal 1 involved facilitating factors for the use of emerging technologies in suicide prevention. Northern European countries, except for Belgium, attach greater relevance to those that optimize implementation and benefits. On the other hand, Southern European countries attach greater importance to professionally oriented and user-centered facilitating factors. According to different stakeholders, the analysis of these facilitating factors suggest that professionals in the field of social work attach greater relevance to those that optimize implementation and benefits. However, professionals involved in the area of mental health, policy makers, and political decision makers give greater importance to professionally oriented and user-centered facilitating factors. Goal 2 was related to barriers to the usability of emerging technologies for suicide prevention. Both countries and stakeholders attach greater importance to barriers associated with resource constraints than to those centered on personal limitations. There are no differences between countries or between stakeholders. Nevertheless, there is a certain stakeholders-countries interaction that indicates that the opinions on resource constraints expressed by different stakeholders do not follow a uniform pattern in different countries, but they differ depending on the country. CONCLUSIONS Although all countries and stakeholders agree in identifying resource constraints as the main barrier to the use of emerging technologies, factors facilitating their use in suicide prevention differ among countries and among stakeholders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Carmen Delgado
- Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
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17
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Jung H, Park HA, Song TM. Ontology-Based Approach to Social Data Sentiment Analysis: Detection of Adolescent Depression Signals. J Med Internet Res 2017; 19:e259. [PMID: 28739560 PMCID: PMC5547245 DOI: 10.2196/jmir.7452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2017] [Revised: 05/26/2017] [Accepted: 05/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social networking services (SNSs) contain abundant information about the feelings, thoughts, interests, and patterns of behavior of adolescents that can be obtained by analyzing SNS postings. An ontology that expresses the shared concepts and their relationships in a specific field could be used as a semantic framework for social media data analytics. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to refine an adolescent depression ontology and terminology as a framework for analyzing social media data and to evaluate description logics between classes and the applicability of this ontology to sentiment analysis. METHODS The domain and scope of the ontology were defined using competency questions. The concepts constituting the ontology and terminology were collected from clinical practice guidelines, the literature, and social media postings on adolescent depression. Class concepts, their hierarchy, and the relationships among class concepts were defined. An internal structure of the ontology was designed using the entity-attribute-value (EAV) triplet data model, and superclasses of the ontology were aligned with the upper ontology. Description logics between classes were evaluated by mapping concepts extracted from the answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) onto the ontology concepts derived from description logic queries. The applicability of the ontology was validated by examining the representability of 1358 sentiment phrases using the ontology EAV model and conducting sentiment analyses of social media data using ontology class concepts. RESULTS We developed an adolescent depression ontology that comprised 443 classes and 60 relationships among the classes; the terminology comprised 1682 synonyms of the 443 classes. In the description logics test, no error in relationships between classes was found, and about 89% (55/62) of the concepts cited in the answers to FAQs mapped onto the ontology class. Regarding applicability, the EAV triplet models of the ontology class represented about 91.4% of the sentiment phrases included in the sentiment dictionary. In the sentiment analyses, "academic stresses" and "suicide" contributed negatively to the sentiment of adolescent depression. CONCLUSIONS The ontology and terminology developed in this study provide a semantic foundation for analyzing social media data on adolescent depression. To be useful in social media data analysis, the ontology, especially the terminology, needs to be updated constantly to reflect rapidly changing terms used by adolescents in social media postings. In addition, more attributes and value sets reflecting depression-related sentiments should be added to the ontology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyesil Jung
- College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic Of Korea
| | - Hyeoun-Ae Park
- College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic Of Korea
| | - Tae-Min Song
- Department of Health Management, Sahmyook University, Seoul, Republic Of Korea
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18
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Villani M, Kovess-Masfety V. How Do People Experiencing Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders or Other Psychotic Disorders Use the Internet to Get Information on Their Mental Health? Literature Review and Recommendations. JMIR Ment Health 2017; 4:e1. [PMID: 28049620 PMCID: PMC5241504 DOI: 10.2196/mental.5946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2016] [Revised: 10/23/2016] [Accepted: 11/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies show that the Internet has become an influential source of information for people experiencing serious psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia spectrum disorders or other psychotic disorders, among which the rate of Internet users is growing, with rates ranging from 33.3% to 79.5% given the country. Between 20.5% and 56.4% of these Internet users seek mental health information. OBJECTIVE Focusing on this population's Web searches about their mental health, this paper examines what type of content they look for and what could be the benefits and disadvantages of this navigation. METHODS We conducted a literature review through medical and psychological databases between 2000 and 2015 using the keywords "Internet," "Web," "virtual," "health information," "schizophrenia," "psychosis," "e-mental health," "e-support," and "telepsychiatry." RESULTS People experiencing schizophrenia spectrum disorders or other psychotic disorders wish to find on the Internet trustful, nonstigmatizing information about their disease, flexibility, security standards, and positive peer-to-peer exchanges. E-mental health also appears to be desired by a substantial proportion of them. In this field, the current developments towards intervention and early prevention in the areas of depression and bipolar and anxiety disorders become more and more operational for schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders as well. The many benefits of the Internet as a source of information and support, such as empowerment, enhancement of self-esteem, relief from peer information, better social interactions, and more available care, seem to outbalance the difficulties. CONCLUSIONS In this paper, after discussing the challenges related to the various aspects of the emergence of the Internet into the life of people experiencing schizophrenia spectrum disorders or other psychotic disorders, we will suggest areas of future research and practical recommendations for this major transition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murielle Villani
- Fondation Pierre Deniker, Paris, France.,Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé, Université Paris Descartes, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
| | - Viviane Kovess-Masfety
- Fondation Pierre Deniker, Paris, France.,Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé, Université Paris Descartes, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.,École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, Paris, France
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19
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Bragazzi NL, Dini G, Toletone A, Brigo F, Durando P. Leveraging Big Data for Exploring Occupational Diseases-Related Interest at the Level of Scientific Community, Media Coverage and Novel Data Streams: The Example of Silicosis as a Pilot Study. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0166051. [PMID: 27806115 PMCID: PMC5091866 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2016] [Accepted: 10/21/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective Silicosis is an untreatable but preventable occupational disease, caused by exposure to silica. It can progressively evolve to lung impairment, respiratory failure and death, even after exposure has ceased. However, little is known about occupational diseases-related interest at the level of scientific community, media coverage and web behavior. This article aims at filling in this gap of knowledge, taking the silicosis as a case study. Methods We investigated silicosis-related web-activities using Google Trends (GT) for capturing the Internet behavior worldwide in the years 2004–2015. GT-generated data were, then, compared with the silicosis-related scientific production (i.e., PubMed and Google Scholar), the media coverage (i.e., Google news), the Wikipedia traffic (i.e, Wikitrends) and the usage of new media (i.e., YouTube and Twitter). Results A peak in silicosis-related web searches was noticed in 2010–2011: interestingly, both scientific articles production and media coverage markedly increased after these years in a statistically significant way. The public interest and the level of the public engagement were witnessed by an increase in likes, comments, hashtags, and re-tweets. However, it was found that only a small fraction of the posted/uploaded material contained accurate scientific information. Conclusions GT could be useful to assess the reaction of the public and the level of public engagement both to novel risk-factors associated to occupational diseases, and possibly related changes in disease natural history, and to the effectiveness of preventive workplace practices and legislative measures adopted to improve occupational health. Further, occupational clinicians should become aware of the topics most frequently searched by patients and proactively address these concerns during the medical examination. Institutional bodies and organisms should be more present and active in digital tools and media to disseminate and communicate scientifically accurate information. This manuscript should be intended as preliminary, exploratory communication, paving the way for further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Luigi Bragazzi
- Department of Health Sciences, Postgraduate School of Public Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Guglielmo Dini
- Department of Health Sciences, Postgraduate School in Occupational Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Alessandra Toletone
- Department of Health Sciences, Postgraduate School in Occupational Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Francesco Brigo
- Department of Neurology, Franz Tappeiner Hospital, Merano, Italy
- Department of Neurological, Biomedical, and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Paolo Durando
- Department of Health Sciences, Postgraduate School in Occupational Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- Occupational Medicine Unit, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy
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20
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Zinoviev D, Stefanescu D, Fireman G, Swenson L. Semantic networks of interests in online non-suicidal self-injury communities. Digit Health 2016; 2:2055207616642118. [PMID: 29942552 PMCID: PMC6001230 DOI: 10.1177/2055207616642118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2014] [Accepted: 03/08/2016] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
People who engage in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) often conceal their practices, which limits examination and understanding of their engagement. The goal of this research is to utilize data from public online social networks (namely, LiveJournal, a major blogging social networking site) to observe the NSSI population in a naturally occurring setting. Specifically, the focus of this paper is the interests publicly declared by LiveJournal users. In the course of study, we collected the self-declared interests of 25,000 users who are members of or participate in 139 NSSI-related communities. We constructed a family of semantic networks of interests based on their similarity. The semantic networks are structured and contain several dense clusters—semantic domains—that include NSSI-specific interests (such as self-injury and razor), references to music performers (such as evanescence), and general daily life and creativity related interests (such as poetry and friendship). Assuming users are genuine in their declarations, the clusters reveal distinct patterns of interest and may signal keys to NSSI.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Zinoviev
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Suffolk University, Boston, USA
| | - D Stefanescu
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Suffolk University, Boston, USA
| | - G Fireman
- Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, USA
| | - L Swenson
- Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, USA
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21
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Bragazzi NL, Bacigaluppi S, Robba C, Nardone R, Trinka E, Brigo F. Infodemiology of status epilepticus: A systematic validation of the Google Trends-based search queries. Epilepsy Behav 2016; 55:120-3. [PMID: 26773681 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2015.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2015] [Accepted: 12/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
People increasingly use Google looking for health-related information. We previously demonstrated that in English-speaking countries most people use this search engine to obtain information on status epilepticus (SE) definition, types/subtypes, and treatment. Now, we aimed at providing a quantitative analysis of SE-related web queries. This analysis represents an advancement, with respect to what was already previously discussed, in that the Google Trends (GT) algorithm has been further refined and correlational analyses have been carried out to validate the GT-based query volumes. Google Trends-based SE-related query volumes were well correlated with information concerning causes and pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments. Google Trends can provide both researchers and clinicians with data on realities and contexts that are generally overlooked and underexplored by classic epidemiology. In this way, GT can foster new epidemiological studies in the field and can complement traditional epidemiological tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Luigi Bragazzi
- School of Public Health, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | | | - Chiara Robba
- Neurosciences Critical Care Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK; Brain Physics Lab, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Raffaele Nardone
- Department of Neurology, Christian Doppler Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Department of Neurology, Franz Tappeiner Hospital, Merano, Italy
| | - Eugen Trinka
- Department of Neurology, Christian Doppler Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salzburg, Austria; Department of Public Health Technology Assessment, UMIT - University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall i.T., Austria
| | - Francesco Brigo
- Department of Neurology, Franz Tappeiner Hospital, Merano, Italy; Department of Neurological, Biomedical, and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Italy.
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Koyanagi A, Stickley A, Haro JM. Psychotic-Like Experiences and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in England: Results from a National Survey [corrected]. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0145533. [PMID: 26700475 PMCID: PMC4689421 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2015] [Accepted: 12/04/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Little is known about the association between psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in the general adult population. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the association using nationally-representative data from England. Methods Data from the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey was analyzed. The sample consisted of 7403 adults aged ≥16 years. Five forms of PLEs (mania/hypomania, thought control, paranoia, strange experience, auditory hallucination) were assessed with the Psychosis Screening Questionnaire. The association between PLEs and NSSI was assessed by multivariable logistic regression. Hierarchical models were constructed to evaluate the influence of alcohol and drug dependence, common mental disorders, and borderline personality disorder symptoms on this association. Results The prevalence of NSSI was 4.7% (female 5.2% and male 4.2%), while the figures among those with and without any PLEs were 19.2% and 3.9% respectively. In a regression model adjusted for sociodemographic factors and stressful life events, most types of PLE were significantly associated with NSSI: paranoia (OR 3.57; 95%CI 1.96–6.52), thought control (OR 2.45; 95%CI 1.05–5.74), strange experience (OR 3.13; 95%CI 1.99–4.93), auditory hallucination (OR 4.03; 95%CI 1.56–10.42), and any PLE (OR 2.78; 95%CI 1.88–4.11). The inclusion of borderline personality disorder symptoms in the models had a strong influence on the association between PLEs and NSSI as evidenced by a large attenuation in the ORs for PLEs, with only paranoia continuing to be significantly associated with NSSI. Substance dependence and common mental disorders had little influence on the association between PLEs and NSSI. Conclusions Borderline personality disorder symptoms may be an important factor in the link between PLEs and NSSI. Future studies on PLEs and NSSI should take these symptoms into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ai Koyanagi
- Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Andrew Stickley
- The Stockholm Centre for Health and Social Change (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden
- Department of Human Ecology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Josep Maria Haro
- Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
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Linking Annual Prescription Volume of Antidepressants to Corresponding Web Search Query Data: A Possible Proxy for Medical Prescription Behavior? J Clin Psychopharmacol 2015; 35:681-5. [PMID: 26355849 DOI: 10.1097/jcp.0000000000000397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Persons using the Internet to retrieve medical information generate large amounts of health-related data, which are increasingly used in modern health sciences. We analyzed the relation between annual prescription volumes (APVs) of several antidepressants with marketing approval in Germany and corresponding web search query data generated in Google to test whether web search query volume may be a proxy for medical prescription practice. We obtained APVs of several antidepressants related to corresponding prescriptions at the expense of the statutory health insurance in Germany from 2004 to 2013. Web search query data generated in Germany and related to defined search terms (active substance or brand name) were obtained with Google Trends. We calculated correlations (Person's r) between the APVs of each substance and the respective annual "search share" values; coefficients of determination (R) were computed to determine the amount of variability shared by the 2 variables. Significant and strong correlations between substance-specific APVs and corresponding annual query volumes were found for each substance during the observational interval: agomelatine (r = 0.968, R = 0.932, P = 0.01), bupropion (r = 0.962, R = 0.925, P = 0.01), citalopram (r = 0.970, R = 0.941, P = 0.01), escitalopram (r = 0.824, R = 0.682, P = 0.01), fluoxetine (r = 0.885, R = 0.783, P = 0.01), paroxetine (r = 0.801, R = 0.641, P = 0.01), and sertraline (r = 0.880, R = 0.689, P = 0.01). Although the used data did not allow to perform an analysis with a higher temporal resolution (quarters, months), our results suggest that web search query volume may be a proxy for corresponding prescription behavior. However, further studies analyzing other pharmacologic agents and prescription data that facilitate an increased temporal resolution are needed to confirm this hypothesis.
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Nuti SV, Wayda B, Ranasinghe I, Wang S, Dreyer RP, Chen SI, Murugiah K. The use of google trends in health care research: a systematic review. PLoS One 2014; 9:e109583. [PMID: 25337815 PMCID: PMC4215636 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 522] [Impact Index Per Article: 52.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2014] [Accepted: 09/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Google Trends is a novel, freely accessible tool that allows users to interact with Internet search data, which may provide deep insights into population behavior and health-related phenomena. However, there is limited knowledge about its potential uses and limitations. We therefore systematically reviewed health care literature using Google Trends to classify articles by topic and study aim; evaluate the methodology and validation of the tool; and address limitations for its use in research. METHODS AND FINDINGS PRISMA guidelines were followed. Two independent reviewers systematically identified studies utilizing Google Trends for health care research from MEDLINE and PubMed. Seventy studies met our inclusion criteria. Google Trends publications increased seven-fold from 2009 to 2013. Studies were classified into four topic domains: infectious disease (27% of articles), mental health and substance use (24%), other non-communicable diseases (16%), and general population behavior (33%). By use, 27% of articles utilized Google Trends for casual inference, 39% for description, and 34% for surveillance. Among surveillance studies, 92% were validated against a reference standard data source, and 80% of studies using correlation had a correlation statistic ≥0.70. Overall, 67% of articles provided a rationale for their search input. However, only 7% of articles were reproducible based on complete documentation of search strategy. We present a checklist to facilitate appropriate methodological documentation for future studies. A limitation of the study is the challenge of classifying heterogeneous studies utilizing a novel data source. CONCLUSION Google Trends is being used to study health phenomena in a variety of topic domains in myriad ways. However, poor documentation of methods precludes the reproducibility of the findings. Such documentation would enable other researchers to determine the consistency of results provided by Google Trends for a well-specified query over time. Furthermore, greater transparency can improve its reliability as a research tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sudhakar V. Nuti
- Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Brian Wayda
- Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Isuru Ranasinghe
- Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Sisi Wang
- Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Rachel P. Dreyer
- Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Serene I. Chen
- Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Karthik Murugiah
- Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
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Development and Application of a Chinese Webpage Suicide Information Mining System (Sims). J Med Syst 2014; 38:88. [DOI: 10.1007/s10916-014-0088-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2014] [Accepted: 06/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Brito LG, Ferriani RA, Candido-dos-Reis FJ, Nogueira AA. Using a search-volume tool (Google Trends) to assess global interest for uterine fibroids. Arch Gynecol Obstet 2014; 289:1163-4. [DOI: 10.1007/s00404-014-3207-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2014] [Accepted: 02/28/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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