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Understanding Health Communication Through Google Trends and News Coverage for COVID-19: Multinational Study in Eight
Wai-Kit Ming1,2, Fengqiu Huang2, Qiuyi Chen3
1Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
|September 30, 2021
Summary
Google Trends data reveals public interest in COVID-19 information, particularly masks and public health measures. Combining Google Trends with news media enhances health communication for epidemic prevention and control.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Communication
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic generated widespread health information globally.
- Google Trends offers insights into public information-seeking behaviors during health crises.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze public health information seeking via Google Trends and news coverage.
- To explore the relationship between search trends, news, and COVID-19 control in early stages.
Main Methods:
- Collected COVID-19 news and Google search data from eight countries (Jan-Apr 2020).
- Analyzed search query trends for "diseases," "treatments," "symptoms," and "public measures."
- Utilized time-lag correlation to link search trends with daily cases and news coverage.
Main Results:
- Search peaks for COVID-19 information occurred in March-April 2020.
- "Mask" was the most searched treatment; "fever" and "cough" were common symptoms.
- Public interest in "lockdown" exceeded "social distancing"; search trends correlated with news coverage and case numbers.
Conclusions:
- Google Trends is valuable for understanding public interest in emerging infectious diseases.
- Integrating Google Trends with news media improves health communication for epidemic control.
- Both tools can aid in the early prevention and management of epidemics.
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