More than just a stye: identifying seasonal patterns using google trends, and a review of infodemiological literature in ophthalmology

Purpose We aim to evaluate the utility of internet search query data in ophthalmology by: (1) Evaluating trends in searches for styes in the United States and worldwide, and (2) Performing a review of literature of infodemiological data in ophthalmology. Methods: Google Trends search data for "stye" was analyzed from January 2004 to January 2020 in the United States and worldwide. Spearman's correlation coefficient and sinusoidal modeling were performed to assess the significance and seasonality of trends. Review of literature included searches for "ophthalmology Google trends," "ophthalmology twitter trends," "ophthalmology infodemiology," "eye google trends," and "social media ophthalmology." Results: Searches for styes were cyclical in the United States and globally with a steady increase from 2004 to 2020 (sum-of-squares F-test for sinusoidal model: p < .0001, r(2) = 0.96). Peak search volume index (SVI) months were 7.9 months in the United States and 6.8 months worldwide. U.S. temperature and SVI for stye were correlated in the United States at the state, divisional, and country-wide levels (p < .005; p < .005; p < .01 respectively). Seven articles met our literature review inclusion criteria. Conclusions: We present a novel finding of seasonality with global and U.S. searches for stye, and association of searches with temperature in the United States. Within ophthalmology, infodemiological literature has been used to track trends and identify seasonal disease patterns, perform disease surveillance, improve resource optimization by identifying regional hotspots, tailor marketing, and monitor institutional reputation. Future research into this domain may help identify further trends, improve prevention efforts, and reduce medical costs.