Peaks in online inquiries into pharyngitis-related symptoms correspond with annual incidence rates.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To assess whether web-based public inquiries into pharyngitis-related search terms follow annual incidence peaks of acute pharyngitis in various countries from both hemispheres.

Methods

Google Trends (GT) was utilized for systematic acquisition of pharyngitis-related search terms (sore throat, cough, fever, cold). Six countries from both hemispheres including four English (United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia) and two non-English speaking countries (Austria and Germany) were selected for further analysis. Time series data on relative search interest for pharyngitis-related search terms, covering a timeframe between 2004 and 2019 were extracted. Following reliability analysis using the intra-class correlation coefficient, the cosinor time series anal

SUBMITTER: Brkic FF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7510767 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature