Abstract
BackgroundExperts worldwide agree that skin cancer is a global health issue, but only a few studies have reported on world populations’ interest in skin cancer. Internet search data can reflect the interest of a population in different topics and thereby identify what the population wants to know.ObjectiveOur aim was to assess the interest of the German population in nonmelanoma skin cancer and melanoma.MethodsGoogle AdWords Keyword Planner was used to identify search terms related to nonmelanoma skin cancer and melanoma in Germany from November 2013 to October 2017. The identified search terms were assessed descriptively using SPSS version 24.0. In addition, the search terms were qualitatively categorized.ResultsA total of 646 skin cancer-related search terms were identified with 19,849,230 Google searches in the period under review. The search terms with the highest search volume were “skin cancer” (n=2,388,500, 12.03%), “white skin cancer” (n=2,056,900, 10.36%), “basalioma” (n=907,000, 4.57%), and “melanoma” (n=717,800, 3.62%). The most searched localizations of nonmelanoma skin cancer were “nose” (n=93,370, 38.99%) and “face” (n=53,270, 22.24%), and the most searched of melanoma were “nails” (n=46,270, 70.61%) and “eye” (n=10,480, 15.99%). The skin cancer‒related category with the highest search volume was “forms of skin cancer” (n=10,162,540, 23.28%) followed by “skin alterations” (n=4,962,020, 11.36%).ConclusionsOur study provides insight into terms and fields of interest related to skin cancer relevant to the German population. Furthermore, temporal trends and courses are shown. This information could aid in the development and implementation of effective and sustainable awareness campaigns by developing information sources targeted to the population’s broad interest or by implementing new Internet campaigns.
Highlights
The incidence of skin cancer, including nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and melanoma, is a major public health issue [1]
The aim of this study was to analyze the interest of the German population in skin cancer by analyzing Google searches of terms related to NMSC and melanoma. In this retrospective longitudinal study, we used Google AdWords Keyword Planner to identify the search volume of terms related to NMSC and melanoma
The search terms related to NMSC and melanoma were identified using a keyword cluster including the following 13 common terms for skin cancer in German: “skin cancer,” “black skin cancer,” “white skin cancer,” “light skin cancer,” “nonmelanocytic skin cancer,” “nonmelanoma skin cancer,” “NMSC,” “melanoma,” “malignant melanoma,” “basalioma,” “basal cell carcinoma,” “spinalioma,” and “squamous cell carcinoma.”
Summary
The incidence of skin cancer, including nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and melanoma, is a major public health issue [1]. In Germany alone, approximately 180,000 new cases are reported each year [3]. NMSC can occur on skin areas that are not exposed to sunlight owing to other etiopathogenetic factors, such as alterations in lymphatic circulation [7,8]. But with a substantially higher mortality than NMSC, is melanoma, which is diagnosed in approximately 21,000 new patients each year in Germany [10]. Experts worldwide agree that skin cancer is a global health issue, but only a few studies have reported on world populations’ interest in skin cancer. Internet search data can reflect the interest of a population in different topics and thereby identify what the population wants to know
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