Malaysian Public Interest in Common Medical Problems: A 10-Year Google Trends Analysis

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Digital Health
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Internet search data can reflect public interest in health issues.
• Google Trends (GT) offers a free platform to analyze search engine traffic for specific terms.
• Understanding Malaysian population's online health information-seeking behavior is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the trend of Google searches for common medical problems by the Malaysian population.
• To explore the geographical influence on the language used in health-related searches within Malaysia.

Main Methods:

• Selected 15 pairs of Malay and English keywords related to common medical problems.
• Extracted Google Trends data from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2020.
• Analyzed trends using paired t-tests and examined geographical language variations.

Main Results:

• A significant increase in public interest for most keywords was observed in the second half of the decade (29 out of 30 keywords showed statistical significance).
• Malay keywords were predominantly preferred, particularly in states along the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
• Geographical variations in language preference for health searches were evident.

Conclusions:

• Google Trends is a valuable tool for monitoring healthcare interest among the Malaysian population.
• The study highlights the need to consider geographical and linguistic factors when analyzing online health-seeking behavior in Malaysia.
• Digital health informatics can provide insights into public health trends and concerns.