Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36309663›Full record

ArticleBMC infectious diseases2022

Explanation of hand, foot, and mouth disease cases in Japan using Google Trends before and during the COVID-19: infodemiology study.

Qian Niu, Junyu Liu, Zixi Zhao, Miyu Onishi, Asuka Kawaguchi, Anuradhi Bandara, Keiko Harada, Tomoki Aoyama, Momoko Nagai-Tanima

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Qian Niu *Department of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53, Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
Junyu Liu *Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Zixi ZhaoDepartment of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53, Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
Miyu OnishiDepartment of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53, Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
Asuka KawaguchiDepartment of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53, Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
Anuradhi BandaraDepartment of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53, Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
Keiko HaradaDepartment of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53, Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
Tomoki AoyamaDepartment of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53, Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
Momoko Nagai-TanimaDepartment of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53, Kawahara-Cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan. tanima.momoko.8s@kyoto-u.ac.jp.
Kyoto University · JP

Funding

Japan Science and Technology Agency JPMJSP2110
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCoronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affects common diseases, but its impact on hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is unclear. Google Trends data is beneficial for approximate real-time statistics and because of ease in access, is expected to be used for infection explanation from an information-seeking behavior perspective. We aimed to explain HFMD cases before and during COVID-19 using Google Trends.

methodsHFMD cases were obtained from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, and Google search data from 2009 to 2021 in Japan were downloaded from Google Trends. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between HFMD cases and the search topic "HFMD" from 2009 to 2021. Japanese tweets containing "HFMD" were retrieved to select search terms for further analysis. Search terms with counts larger than 1000 and belonging to ranges of infection sources, susceptible sites, susceptible populations, symptoms, treatment, preventive measures, and identified diseases were retained. Cross-correlation analyses were conducted to detect lag changes between HFMD cases and search terms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple linear regressions with backward elimination processing were used to identify the most significant terms for HFMD explanation.

resultsHFMD cases and Google search volume peaked around July in most years, excluding 2020 and 2021. The search topic "HFMD" presented strong correlations with HFMD cases, except in 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak occurred. In addition, the differences in lags for 73 (72.3%) search terms were negative, which might indicate increasing public awareness of HFMD infections during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of multiple linear regression demonstrated that significant search terms contained the same meanings but expanded informative search content during the COVID-19 pandemic.

conclusionsThe significant terms for the explanation of HFMD cases before and during COVID-19 were different. Awareness of HFMD infections in Japan may have improved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuous monitoring is important to promote public health and prevent resurgence. The public interest reflected in information-seeking behavior can be helpful for public health surveillance.

Indexed as

COVID-19Hand, Foot and Mouth DiseaseMouth DiseasesHumansInfodemiologyJapanPandemicsSearch EngineExplanationGoogle TrendsHFMDInfectionInfodemiology

Identifiers

PMID36309663
PMCPMC9617033
OpenAlexW4307840099

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.