The Popularity of the Biologically-Based Therapies During Coronavirus Pandemic Among the Google Users in the USA, UK, Germany, Italy and France
Object: The aim of this retrospective infodemiological study was to evaluate people’s interests in biologically-based (B-B) complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies such as herbs, foods, and supplements during the coronavirus pandemic via analysis of Google search engine statistics. De...
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doaj-75209dceb061403ab2e34190829240d72021-06-11T05:12:08ZengElsevierComplementary Therapies in Medicine0965-22992021-05-0158102682The Popularity of the Biologically-Based Therapies During Coronavirus Pandemic Among the Google Users in the USA, UK, Germany, Italy and FranceElif Günalan0İrem Kaya Cebioğlu1Özge Çonak2Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Istanbul Health and Technology University, Faculty of Health Science, Istanbul, Turkey; Corresponding author at: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Science, Istanbul Health and Technology University, Seyitnizam District, Mevlana Street, 34015 Zeytinburnu, Istanbul, Turkey.Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Yeditepe University, Faculty of Health Science, Istanbul, TurkeyProgram of Medical Documentation and Secretariat, Istanbul Esenyurt University, Vocational School of Health Service, Istanbul, TurkeyObject: The aim of this retrospective infodemiological study was to evaluate people’s interests in biologically-based (B-B) complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies such as herbs, foods, and supplements during the coronavirus pandemic via analysis of Google search engine statistics. Design & settings: The category, period, and regions selected in the Google Trends were “health,” “15 January–15 May 2020,” in the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Italy, and France, respectively. The most commonly searched herbs, foods and supplements (n = 32) during the pandemic were determined from a pool of keywords (n = 1286) based on the terms’ relative search volumes (RSVs) within the last five years. Correlation analyses were conducted to investigate associations between coronavirus-related parameters with each keyword’s RSV for each country. Selected keywords (n = 25) were analyzed using the gtrendsR package in the R programming language; the ggplot2 package was used to visualize the data, the Prophet package was used to estimate the time series, and the dplyr package was used to create the data frame. Results: Significantly strong positive correlations were identified between daily RSVs of the terms “black seed,” “vitamin C,” “zinc,” and “quercetin,” and search queries for “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” in the USA (Spearman’s correlation coefficient > 0.8, p < 0.05), and between the RSVs of the terms “vitamin C” and “zinc,” and daily search queries for “coronavirus” and/or “COVID-19” in the UK (Spearman’s correlation coefficient > 0.8, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Google Trends can be a beneficial tool for following public interest in identifying outbreak-related misinformation, and scientific studies and statements from authorities and the media play a potential role in driving internet searches.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229921000236CoronavirusCOVID-19Functional foodsImmunitySupplementsMisinformation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Elif Günalan İrem Kaya Cebioğlu Özge Çonak |
spellingShingle |
Elif Günalan İrem Kaya Cebioğlu Özge Çonak The Popularity of the Biologically-Based Therapies During Coronavirus Pandemic Among the Google Users in the USA, UK, Germany, Italy and France Complementary Therapies in Medicine Coronavirus COVID-19 Functional foods Immunity Supplements Misinformation |
author_facet |
Elif Günalan İrem Kaya Cebioğlu Özge Çonak |
author_sort |
Elif Günalan |
title |
The Popularity of the Biologically-Based Therapies During Coronavirus Pandemic Among the Google Users in the USA, UK, Germany, Italy and France |
title_short |
The Popularity of the Biologically-Based Therapies During Coronavirus Pandemic Among the Google Users in the USA, UK, Germany, Italy and France |
title_full |
The Popularity of the Biologically-Based Therapies During Coronavirus Pandemic Among the Google Users in the USA, UK, Germany, Italy and France |
title_fullStr |
The Popularity of the Biologically-Based Therapies During Coronavirus Pandemic Among the Google Users in the USA, UK, Germany, Italy and France |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Popularity of the Biologically-Based Therapies During Coronavirus Pandemic Among the Google Users in the USA, UK, Germany, Italy and France |
title_sort |
popularity of the biologically-based therapies during coronavirus pandemic among the google users in the usa, uk, germany, italy and france |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Complementary Therapies in Medicine |
issn |
0965-2299 |
publishDate |
2021-05-01 |
description |
Object: The aim of this retrospective infodemiological study was to evaluate people’s interests in biologically-based (B-B) complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies such as herbs, foods, and supplements during the coronavirus pandemic via analysis of Google search engine statistics. Design & settings: The category, period, and regions selected in the Google Trends were “health,” “15 January–15 May 2020,” in the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Italy, and France, respectively. The most commonly searched herbs, foods and supplements (n = 32) during the pandemic were determined from a pool of keywords (n = 1286) based on the terms’ relative search volumes (RSVs) within the last five years. Correlation analyses were conducted to investigate associations between coronavirus-related parameters with each keyword’s RSV for each country. Selected keywords (n = 25) were analyzed using the gtrendsR package in the R programming language; the ggplot2 package was used to visualize the data, the Prophet package was used to estimate the time series, and the dplyr package was used to create the data frame. Results: Significantly strong positive correlations were identified between daily RSVs of the terms “black seed,” “vitamin C,” “zinc,” and “quercetin,” and search queries for “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” in the USA (Spearman’s correlation coefficient > 0.8, p < 0.05), and between the RSVs of the terms “vitamin C” and “zinc,” and daily search queries for “coronavirus” and/or “COVID-19” in the UK (Spearman’s correlation coefficient > 0.8, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Google Trends can be a beneficial tool for following public interest in identifying outbreak-related misinformation, and scientific studies and statements from authorities and the media play a potential role in driving internet searches. |
topic |
Coronavirus COVID-19 Functional foods Immunity Supplements Misinformation |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229921000236 |
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