Internet search results correlate with seasonal variation of sarcoidosis

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Amanda Stanton¹  Steven J. Katz¹ 

[1] Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada;

关键词: Sarcoidosis;    Google;    Season;    Variation;    Internet;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12890-021-01602-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe etiology and pathophysiology of sarcoidosis remains unclear, with epidemiologic studies limited by its relatively low prevalence. The internet has prompted patients to seek information about medical diagnoses online; Google Trends provides access to an anonymized version of this data, which has a new role in epidemiology. We hypothesize that there is seasonal variation in the relative search interest of sarcoidosis, which would suggest seasonal variation in the incidence of sarcoidosis.MethodsGoogle Trends was used to assess the relative search volume from 2010 to 2020 for “sarcoidosis” and “sarcoid” in 7 countries. ANOVA with multiple comparisons was performed to compare the mean relative search volume by month and by season for each country, with a p-value less than 0.05 indicating statistical significance.ResultsOur analysis revealed a significant seasonal variation in search popularity in 4 of the 7 countries and in the Northern Hemispheric countries combined. Direct comparison showed search terms to be more popular in spring, specifically March & April, than in the winter. Southern Hemisphere data was not statistically significant but showed a trend towards a nadir in December and a peak in September and October.ConclusionsOverall, these findings suggest seasonal variation with a possible peak in spring and nadir in winter. This supports the hypothesis that sarcoidosis has seasonal variation and is more commonly diagnosed in spring, but more evidence is needed to support this, as well as investigation into the pathophysiology of sarcoidosis to explain this phenomenon.

【 授权许可】

CC BY