• Mult Scler Relat Disord · Jul 2014

    Web search behavior for multiple sclerosis: An infodemiological study.

    • Francesco Brigo, Piergiorgio Lochner, Frediano Tezzon, and Raffaele Nardone.
    • Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, Section of Clinical Neurology, University of Verona, Piazzale L.A. Scuro, 10, 37134 Verona, Italy; Department of Neurology, Franz Tappeiner Hospital, Merano, Italy. Electronic address: dr.francescobrigo@gmail.com.
    • Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2014 Jul 1;3(4):440-3.

    ObjectiveMillions of people worldwide use the Internet daily as a source of health information. Google is the most popular search engine and is used by patients and physicians to search for online health-related information. This study aimed to evaluate changes in Web search behavior occurring in English-speaking countries over time for the term "multiple sclerosis" (MS).MethodsUsing Google Trends, data on global search queries for the term "multiple sclerosis" between January 2004 and December 2013 were analyzed.ResultsOver time there was a reduction in tendency to search for the term "multiple sclerosis". Most terms associated with the search queries for MS were related to causes and symptoms (including pain) of the disease, and most peaks in search volume over the period studied corresponded to news of celebrities having MS.ConclusionsMost people appear to use search engines to look for MS to obtain information on symptoms, possibly to aid initial self-diagnosis. News on celebrities with MS seem to be a major factor that influences online search behavior.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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