Heartburn-Related Internet Searches and Trends of Interest across Six Western Countries: A Four-Year Retrospective Analysis Using Google Ads Keyword Planner.

Kamiński Kamiński,Misera Misera,Marlicz Marlicz,Łoniewski Łoniewski

doi:10.3390/ijerph16234591

Abstract

The internet is becoming the main source of health-related information. We aimed to investigate data regarding heartburn-related searches made by Google users from Australia, Canada, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We retrospectively analyzed data from Google Ads Keywords Planner. We extracted search volumes of keywords associated with “heartburn” for June 2015 to May 2019. The data were generated in the respective primary language. The number of searches per 1000 Google-user years was as follows: 177.4 (Australia), 178.1 (Canada), 123.8 (Germany), 199.7 (Poland), 152.5 (United Kingdom), and 194.5 (United States). The users were particularly interested in treatment (19.0 to 41.3%), diet (4.8 to 10.7%), symptoms (2.6 to 13.1%), and causes (3.7 to 10.0%). In all countries except Germany, the number of heartburn-related queries significantly increased over the analyzed period. For Canada, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom, query numbers were significantly lowest in summer; there was no significant seasonal trend for Australia and the United States. The number of heartburn-related queries has increased over the past four years, and a seasonal pattern may exist in certain regions. The trends in heartburn-related searches may reflect the scale of the complaint, and should be verified through future epidemiological studies.

Highlights

Heartburn can occur incidentally or may be a chronic symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) [1]
Considering the above, in the present study, we aimed to retrospectively investigate frequency, yearly and seasonal trends of heartburn-related searches made by users from Australia (AU), Canada (CA), Germany (DE), Poland (PL), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US)
Dent et al estimated that the weekly incidence of GERD symptoms is five per 1000 person-years [5]; our results suggest that one Google user with GERD symptoms generates 25–50 heartburn-related queries per year

Summary

Introduction

Heartburn can occur incidentally or may be a chronic symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) [1]. This complaint requires differential diagnosis in order to exclude cancer and other non-malignant conditions, such as eosinophilic esophagitis, functional dyspepsia, hypersensitive esophagus, and gastroparesis [2,3]. Dent et al estimated that, in the Western world, the incidence of heartburn and/or acid regurgitation at least once a week is approximately five per 1000 person-years [5]. Another notable development is that the use of antacids and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which are. Public Health 2019, 16, 4591; doi:10.3390/ijerph16234591 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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