Consulting "Dr Google" for sexual dysfunction: a contemporary worldwide trend analysis

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Sexual Medicine
• Digital Health Trends

Background:

• Google Trends (GT) provides a valuable tool for analyzing global search interest in health conditions and treatments.
• Understanding public interest in treatments for Peyronie's disease (PD), erectile dysfunction (ED), and premature ejaculation (PE) is essential for public health initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze worldwide public interest trends for PD, ED, and PE treatments from 2004 to 2018 using Google Trends data.
• To compare the relative popularity and temporal variations of different treatment modalities for these conditions.

Main Methods:

• A worldwide Google Trends analysis was conducted for search terms related to PD, ED, and PE treatments.
• Join-point regression was employed to analyze annual relative search volume (ARSV) and average annual percentage change (AAPC).

Main Results:

• Interest in PD treatments (drug, ESWT, vacuum therapy) and PE treatments (surgical, drug, psychotherapy) showed a significant decrease.
• ED treatment searches showed a slight increase in interest for prosthetic surgery, prostaglandins, traction, and ESWT, though not statistically significant.
• A notable increase in search interest was observed for premature ejaculation spray drugs, while interest in vacuum devices for ED slightly decreased.

Conclusions:

• Public interest in treatments for PD and PE is declining, necessitating targeted information campaigns.
• While ED treatment searches show some positive trends, the overall landscape of sexual health information seeking requires careful monitoring.
• It is crucial to provide accurate, evidence-based information to patients to combat misinformation found online regarding sexual health treatments.