Currently submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Apr 2, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 3, 2025 - May 29, 2025
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Google Trends and Seasonal Patterns in Gout Infodemiology: Made More Crystal-Clear
ABSTRACT
Background:
Gout is a common inflammatory arthritis with well-documented seasonal variation in flares. Understanding public interest in gout, as reflected in online behavior, can provide valuable insights into disease perception and management, particularly when tracking interest patterns over time and across different regions.
Objective:
To explore whether the public interest in gout, as measured by Google Trends data, exhibits seasonal patterns across countries, US states, and major metropolitan areas. Additionally, the study evaluates the impact of language-specific search terms on the observed seasonality of gout-related queries.
Methods:
This study utilizes Google Trends data from January 1, 2014, to October 1, 2024, to analyze the frequency of gout-related search queries. Data were collected from 70 countries, 50 US states, and 36 major cities in the US and Canada. Both direct searches for “gout” and symptom-based searches were included, along with queries in multiple languages.
Results:
The analysis revealed significant seasonal variation in gout-related search interest in 40 US states and 20 of the 70 countries analyzed, with peaks in the late spring/early summer for the Northern Hemisphere and corresponding shifts in the Southern Hemisphere. Symptom-based queries also displayed strong seasonality, aligning with known clinical patterns of gout flares. The use of language-specific search terms further refined the detection of seasonal patterns, strengthening the findings.
Conclusions:
Public interest in gout, as reflected by Google search behavior, follows a clear seasonal pattern, mirroring the clinical seasonality of gout flares. This study highlights the utility of infodemiology as a supplementary tool for understanding public behavior and informing health communication strategies. Accounting for linguistic nuances enhances the precision of seasonality analysis, offering valuable insights for public health efforts aimed at improving disease management and patient education. Clinical Trial: N/A
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