Elsevier

Obesity Medicine

Volume 28, December 2021, 100374
Obesity Medicine

Increased global online interest in diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic: An infodemiology study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obmed.2021.100374Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Global online interest in diabetes increased during the last decade.

  • The search term “diabetes” was most popular in Ghana, Puerto Rico, Australia.

  • Online interest in diabetes was correlated with % internet users in a country.

  • Online interest in diabetes was correlated with number of physicians in a country.

Abstract

Background

The public utilize the internet as their main source for health-related information during the pandemic. This was shown by the increase in global online searches related to health during the pandemic. In this study, the dynamics of public interest and awareness in diabetes before and during the pandemic was investigated and the possible factors associated with online interest in diabetes were determined.

Methods

Global online search interest for diabetes was measured using Google Trends™ database. The search terms “diabetes”, “type 1 diabetes”, “type 2 diabetes”, and “gestational diabetes” were used. The results were limited to the years 2010 until 2020 from all countries. Correlation between country-specific characteristics and search volume index (SVI) was determined using Spearman's rank-order correlation.

Results

This study showed a steady increase in global online interest in diabetes during the last decade. SVI for all the diabetes search terms included in this study increased from 2019 to 2020. People searching for the term “diabetes” also searched for the different types of diabetes, causes, signs and symptoms, diagnostic tests, and treatments for diabetes. The increasing online interest in diabetes was positively correlated with percentage of individuals using the internet and the number of physicians in a country.

Conclusions

The results of this study showed an increasing global online interest in diabetes during the last decade. This increased global interest in diabetes should be maximized by medical doctors and public health officials in providing evidence-based information regarding prevention and control of diabetes in the internet.

GDP
gross domestic product
SVI
search volume index

Keywords

Coronavirus
Diabetes mellitus
Health seeking behavior
Pandemic
Infodemiology

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