TY - JOUR
T1 - When in doubt, Google it
T2 - distress-related information seeking in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic
AU - Monzani, Dario
AU - Vergani, Laura
AU - Marton, Giulia
AU - Pizzoli, Silvia F.M.
AU - Pravettoni, Gabriella
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health with Ricerca Corrente and 5 × 1000 funds for IEO European Institute of Oncology IRCCS. The funding source did not have any involvement in any aspect of the research. Laura Vergani and Giulia Marton are PhD students within the European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM).
Funding Information:
This work was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health with Ricerca Corrente and 5???1000 funds for IEO European Institute of Oncology IRCCS. The funding source did not have any involvement in any aspect of the research. Laura Vergani and Giulia Marton are PhD students within the European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM). The authors would like to thank Russell Edu Samuel William for the proofreading of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Background: Psychological health has been one of the aspects affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to evaluate the patterns of Google search for mental distress symptoms of Italian citizens during the various phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We assessed Google searches for psychological-health related words. We gathered and analyzed data on daily search queries on depression, anxiety, and insomnia from Google Trends, in a time ranging from the Pre-COVID phase (beginning 25th January 2020) up to the second wave phase (ending 17th October 2020). We performed three general linear models on search trends of the three words and tested whether and to what extent official data about new cases of COVID-19, information searching on new cases, and the government health measures impacted on these trends. Results: Average daily search queries were higher for anxiety, followed by depression and insomnia. General linear models performed to assess differences in daily search queries for anxiety, depression and insomnia were significant, respectively [F(13, 253) = 6.80, P <.001]; [F(13, 253) = 10.25, P <.001]; [F(13, 253) = 6.61, P <.001]. Specifically, daily search queries differed among different phases of managing the COVID-19 outbreak: anxiety [F(5, 253) = 10.35, P <.001, np2 =.17]; depression [F(5, 253) = 13.59, P <.001, np2 =.21]; insomnia [F(5, 253) = 3.52, P =.004, np2 =.07]. Conclusions: Our study contributed to the investigation of online information-seeking behaviors of Italians regarding mental health throughout the entire phase of the pandemic and provides insights on the possible future trends of mental distress during upcoming pandemic phases.
AB - Background: Psychological health has been one of the aspects affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to evaluate the patterns of Google search for mental distress symptoms of Italian citizens during the various phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We assessed Google searches for psychological-health related words. We gathered and analyzed data on daily search queries on depression, anxiety, and insomnia from Google Trends, in a time ranging from the Pre-COVID phase (beginning 25th January 2020) up to the second wave phase (ending 17th October 2020). We performed three general linear models on search trends of the three words and tested whether and to what extent official data about new cases of COVID-19, information searching on new cases, and the government health measures impacted on these trends. Results: Average daily search queries were higher for anxiety, followed by depression and insomnia. General linear models performed to assess differences in daily search queries for anxiety, depression and insomnia were significant, respectively [F(13, 253) = 6.80, P <.001]; [F(13, 253) = 10.25, P <.001]; [F(13, 253) = 6.61, P <.001]. Specifically, daily search queries differed among different phases of managing the COVID-19 outbreak: anxiety [F(5, 253) = 10.35, P <.001, np2 =.17]; depression [F(5, 253) = 13.59, P <.001, np2 =.21]; insomnia [F(5, 253) = 3.52, P =.004, np2 =.07]. Conclusions: Our study contributed to the investigation of online information-seeking behaviors of Italians regarding mental health throughout the entire phase of the pandemic and provides insights on the possible future trends of mental distress during upcoming pandemic phases.
KW - Anxiety
KW - COVID-19
KW - Depression
KW - Google
KW - Infodemiology
KW - Insomnia
KW - Psychological distress
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85117599647&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12889-021-11887-2
DO - 10.1186/s12889-021-11887-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85117599647
VL - 21
JO - BMC Public Health
JF - BMC Public Health
SN - 1471-2458
IS - 1
M1 - 1902
ER -