Estimating Rare Disease Incidences With Large-scale Internet Search Data: Development and Evaluation of a Two-step Machine Learning Method

ABSTRACT:

Background

As rare diseases (RDs) receive increasing attention, obtaining accurate RD incidence estimates has become an essential concern in public health. Since RDs are difficult to diagnose, include diverse types, and have scarce cases, traditional epidemiological methods are costly in RD registries. With the development of the internet, users have become accustomed to searching for disease-related information through search engines before seeking medical treatment. Therefore, online search data provide a new source for estimating RD incidences.

Objective

The aim of this study was to estimate the incidences of multiple RDs in distinct regions of China with online search data.

Methods

Our research scale included 15 RDs in China from 2016 to 2019. The online sear

SUBMITTER: Li J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10182453 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature