Google Trends terms reporting rhinitis and related topics differ in European countries

J Bousquet; I Agache; J M Anto; K C Bergmann; C Bachert; I Annesi-Maesano; P J Bousquet; G D'Amato; P Demoly; G De Vries; E Eller; W J Fokkens; J Fonseca; T Haahtela; P W Hellings; J Just; T Keil; L Klimek; P Kuna; K C Lodrup Carlsen; R Mösges; R Murray; K Nekam; G Onorato; N G Papadopoulos; B Samolinski; P Schmid-Grendelmeier; M Thibaudon; P Tomazic; M Triggiani; A Valiulis; E Valovirta; M Van Eerd; M Wickman; T Zuberbier; A Sheikh

doi:10.1111/all.13137

Google Trends terms reporting rhinitis and related topics differ in European countries

Allergy. 2017 Aug;72(8):1261-1266. doi: 10.1111/all.13137. Epub 2017 Mar 13.

Authors

J Bousquet^{1

2

3}, I Agache⁴, J M Anto^{5

6

7}, K C Bergmann^{8

9}, C Bachert¹⁰, I Annesi-Maesano^{11

12}, P J Bousquet^{11

12}, G D'Amato¹³, P Demoly¹⁴, G De Vries¹⁵, E Eller¹⁶, W J Fokkens¹⁷, J Fonseca^{18

19}, T Haahtela²⁰, P W Hellings²¹, J Just^{22

23}, T Keil^{24

25}, L Klimek²⁶, P Kuna²⁷, K C Lodrup Carlsen^{28

29}, R Mösges³⁰, R Murray³¹, K Nekam³², G Onorato¹, N G Papadopoulos^{33

34}, B Samolinski³⁵, P Schmid-Grendelmeier³⁶, M Thibaudon³⁷, P Tomazic³⁸, M Triggiani³⁹, A Valiulis^{40

41}, E Valovirta^{42

43}, M Van Eerd¹⁵, M Wickman^{44

45}, T Zuberbier^{8

9}, A Sheikh⁴⁶

Affiliations

¹ MACVIA-France, Contre les MAladies Chroniques pour un VIeillissement Actif en France European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing Reference Site, Montpellier, France.
² INSERM U 1168, VIMA: Ageing and chronic diseases Epidemiological and public health approaches, Villejuif, France.
³ UMR-S 1168, Université Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Montigny le Bretonneux, France.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Transylvania University, Brasov, Romania.
⁵ ISGLoBAL, Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.
⁶ IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain.
⁷ CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
⁸ Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Comprehensive Allergy-Centre-Charité, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA2LEN), Berlin, Germany.
¹⁰ Upper Airways Research Laboratory, ENT Department, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
¹¹ EPAR U707 INSERM, Paris, France.
¹² EPAR UMR-S UPMC, Paris VI, Paris, France.
¹³ Division of Respiratory and Allergic Diseases, Hospital 'A Cardarelli', University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
¹⁴ Department of Respiratory Diseases, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France.
¹⁵ Peercode DV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁶ Department of Dermatology and Allergy Centre, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
¹⁷ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁸ Center for Health Technology and Services Research- CINTESIS, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
¹⁹ Allergy Unit, CUF Porto Instituto & Hospital, Porto, Portugal.
²⁰ Skin and Allergy Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
²¹ Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
²² Allergology Department, Centre de l'Asthme et des Allergies Hôpital d'Enfants Armand-Trousseau (APHP), Paris, France.
²³ Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR_S 1136, Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Equipe EPAR, Paris, France.
²⁴ Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
²⁵ Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.
²⁶ Center for Rhinology and Allergology, Wiesbaden, Germany.
²⁷ Division of Internal Medicine, Asthma and Allergy, Barlicki University Hospital, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
²⁸ Department of Paediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
²⁹ Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
³⁰ Institute of Medical Statistics, Informatics and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
³¹ Medical Communications Consultant, MedScript Ltd, Dundalk, Co Louth, Ireland.
³² Hospital of the Hospitaller Brothers in Buda, Budapest, Hungary.
³³ Center for Pediatrics and Child Health, Institute of Human Development, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
³⁴ Allergy Department, 2nd Pediatric Clinic, Athens General Children's Hospital 'P&A Kyriakou', University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
³⁵ Department of Prevention of Environmental Hazards and Allergology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
³⁶ Allergy Unit, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
³⁷ RNSA (Réseau National de Surveillance Aérobiologique), Brussieu, France.
³⁸ Department of ENT, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
³⁹ Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
⁴⁰ Vilnius University Clinic of Children's Diseases and Public Health Institute, Vilnius, Lithuania.
⁴¹ European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP/UEMS-SP), Brussels, Belgium.
⁴² Department of Lung Diseases and Clinical Allergology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
⁴³ Allergy Clinic, Terveystalo, Turku, Finland.
⁴⁴ Sachs' Children and Youth Hospital, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴⁵ Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴⁶ Centre of Medical Informatics, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

PMID: 28140507
DOI: 10.1111/all.13137

Abstract

Google Trends (GT) searches trends of specific queries in Google and reflects the real-life epidemiology of allergic rhinitis. We compared Google Trends terms related to allergy and rhinitis in all European Union countries, Norway and Switzerland from 1 January 2011 to 20 December 2016. The aim was to assess whether the same terms could be used to report the seasonal variations of allergic diseases. Using the Google Trend 5-year graph, an annual and clear seasonality of queries was found in all countries apart from Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta. Different terms were found to demonstrate seasonality depending on the country - namely 'hay fever', 'allergy' and 'pollen' - showing cultural differences. A single set of terms cannot be used across all European countries, but allergy seasonality can be compared across Europe providing the above three terms are used. Using longitudinal data in different countries and multiple terms, we identified an awareness-related spike of searches (December 2016).

Keywords: Google Trends; allergy; asthma; hay fever; rhinitis.

Publication types

Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

Allergens / immunology
Asthma / epidemiology
Asthma / etiology
Europe / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Internet*
Male
Population Surveillance* / methods
Rhinitis, Allergic / epidemiology*
Rhinitis, Allergic / etiology
Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / epidemiology
Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / etiology

Substances

Allergens

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding