Acute Coronary Syndrome During the Era of COVID-19: Perspective and Implications Using Google Trends
Juan A Quintero-Martinez1, Joaquin Espinoza1, Diego Celli2
1Department of Internal Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida, USA.
Insights
During the COVID-19 outbreak, acute coronary syndrome (ACS) hospital admissions dropped, while out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and Google searches for symptoms increased. This suggests Google Trends may help predict patient behavior during health crises.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Public Health
- Digital Epidemiology
Background:
- Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) hospital admissions declined at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Limited data exists on the relationship between public online search behavior and patient actions during this period.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the correlation between Google search trends and patient behavior concerning acute coronary syndrome (ACS) during the initial COVID-19 outbreak.
- To analyze trends in ACS admissions, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA), and public online searches.
Main Methods:
- Utilized de-identified data from 2019-2020, including Veterans Affairs healthcare system ACS admissions and the NEMSIS public dataset for OHCA.
- Analyzed monthly Google search volumes for terms like "chest pain," "coronavirus," "chest pressure," and "hospital safe" using Google Trends.
- Examined national and regional trends across all data points.
Main Results:
- A significant decrease in national and regional ACS admissions was observed.
- A marked increase in national out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occurred.
- A significant rise in Google searches related to ACS symptoms and hospital safety was noted nationally and regionally.
Conclusions:
- Reduced ACS hospital admissions during the pandemic may be attributed to delayed healthcare seeking due to COVID-19 infection fears.
- Increased OHCA events and public online searches for symptoms and safety suggest a potential link between public behavior and healthcare utilization.
- Google Trends shows promise as a tool for predicting patient behavior and enhancing preparedness for future public health events, though further statistical validation is required.
Background:
Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) hospital admissions decreased during the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. Information is limited on how Google searches were related to patients' behaviour during this time.
Methods:
We examined de-identified data from 2019 through 2020 regarding the following monthly items: (i) admissions for ACS from the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System; (ii) out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) from the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) public dataset; and (iii) Google searches for "chest pain," "coronavirus," "chest pressure," and "hospital safe" from Google Trends. We analyzed the trends for ACS admissions, OHCA, and Google searches.
Results:
During the early months of the first COVID-19 outbreak, the following occurred: (i) Veterans Affairs data showed a significant reduction in ACS admissions at a national and regional (Florida) level; (ii) the NEMSIS database showed a marked increase in OHCA at a national level; and (iii) Google Trends showed a significant increase in the before-mentioned Google searches at a national and regional level.
Conclusions:
ACS hospital admissions decreased during the beginning of the pandemic, likely owing to delayed healthcare utilization secondary to patients fear of acquiring a COVID-19 infection. Concordantly, the volume of Google searches for hospital safety and ACS symptoms increased, along with OHCA events, during the same time. Our results suggest that Google Trends may be a useful tool to predict patients' behaviour and increase preparedness for future events, but statistical strategies to establish association are needed.
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