Digital epidemiology reveals a correlation between brain cancer diagnoses and Google Trends data in multiple states, suggesting health education improvements.
Brain cancer affects approximately 5-7 people per 100,000 people. With over 35% of patients using Google to search their medical conditions, Google Trends (GT) can help evaluate public search interest in medical conditions like brain cancer. The objective was to determine the strength of Google data surrounding brain cancer in comparison to data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). GT state-by-state analysis for “brain cancer” was conducted from 2017-2021 for the United States and compared to NCI brain cancer diagnosis data by state from 2017-2021. States with higher brain cancer diagnoses had higher search volumes for brain cancer, and states with lower brain cancer diagnoses had lower search volumes for brain cancer (p=0.0473). Hawaii and District of Columbia have the fewest brain cancer diagnoses while Vermont and New Hampshire have the most brain cancer diagnoses. New York and Kentucky had the highest search volumes for brain cancer while Utah, Hawaii, and Nevada had the lowest search volumes for brain cancer. Understanding brain cancer diagnosis and brain cancer search trends can optimize public health initiatives and education efforts surrounding brain cancer.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Sakhalkar et al. (2025) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: