Decreased public pursuit of cancer-related information during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Cancer Causes Control
; 32(6): 577-585, 2021 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33683506
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
In response to the prioritization of healthcare resources towards the COVID-19 pandemic, routine cancer screening and diagnostic have been disrupted, potentially explaining the apparent COVID-era decline in cancer cases and mortality. In this study, we identified temporal trends in public interest in cancer-related health information using the nowcasting tool Google Trends.METHODS:
We used Google Trends to query search terms related to cancer types for short-term (September 2019-September 2020) and long-term (September 2016-September 2020) trends in the US. We compared average relative search volumes (RSV) for specified time ranges to detect recent and seasonal variation.RESULTS:
General search interest declined for all cancer types beginning in March 2020, with changes in search interest for "Breast cancer," "Colorectal cancer," and "Melanoma" of - 30.6%, - 28.2%, and - 26.7%, respectively, and compared with the mean RSV of the two previous months. In the same time range, search interest for "Telemedicine" has increased by + 907.1% and has reached a 4-year peak with a sustained increased level of search interest. Absolute cancer mortality has declined and is presently at a 4-year low; however, search interest in cancer has been recuperating since July 2020.CONCLUSION:
We observed a marked decline in searches for cancer-related health information that mirrors the reduction in new cancer diagnoses and cancer mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health professions need to be prepared for the coming demand for cancer-related healthcare, foreshadowed by recovering interest in cancer-related information on Google Trends.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ferramenta de Busca
/
COVID-19
/
Neoplasias
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Cancer Causes Control
Assunto da revista:
EPIDEMIOLOGIA
/
NEOPLASIAS
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos