Correlating regional emergency epistaxis visits with internet search activity

Publication date: Available online 19 July 2018

Source: American Journal of Otolaryngology

Author(s): Shane Griffith, Robert Archbold, Stephen Schell

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the correlation between internet search activity and epistaxis-related Emergency Department visits.

Materials and methods

Data from Google Trends were obtained (www.google.com/trends) for the search term "nosebleed" in Erie County, Pennsylvania during a five-year period. All epistaxis-related CPT code events were obtained from one hospital in this county during the same period. Google total counts were cross tabulated with the following month's ED visits. Graphical analysis and correlation were used to assess the relationship between ED visits and search engine activity.

Results

A strong positive correlation was observed between epistaxis-related ED visits and search engine activity for the term "nosebleed" (r = 0.655).

Conclusion

Search engine activities for the term "nosebleed" correlates strongly with epistaxis-related ED visits. This study demonstrates the usefulness of utilizing Google Trends search data to assess regional disease burdens, which may provide a means for epidemiological study that is quicker than conventional methods.

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