Tracking COVID-19 using taste and smell loss Google searches is not a reliable strategy

Web search tools are widely used by the general public to obtain health-related information, and analysis of search data is often suggested for public health monitoring. We analyzed popularity of searches related to smell loss and taste loss, recently listed as symptoms of COVID-19. Searches on sigh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2020-11, Vol.10 (1), p.20527-20527, Article 20527
Main Authors: Asseo, Kim, Fierro, Fabrizio, Slavutsky, Yuli, Frasnelli, Johannes, Niv, Masha Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Ageusia - epidemiology
Anosmia - epidemiology
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
COVID-19 - physiopathology
COVID-19 - virology
Epidemiological Monitoring
Health risks
Hearing loss
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Incidence
Information Dissemination - methods
Italy - epidemiology
multidisciplinary
Olfaction
Pandemics
Public health
SARS-CoV-2
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Search Engine - methods
Smell
Social Media
Taste
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:Web search tools are widely used by the general public to obtain health-related information, and analysis of search data is often suggested for public health monitoring. We analyzed popularity of searches related to smell loss and taste loss, recently listed as symptoms of COVID-19. Searches on sight loss and hearing loss, which are not considered as COVID-19 symptoms, were used as control. Google Trends results per region in Italy or state in the US were compared to COVID-19 incidence in the corresponding geographical areas. The COVID-19 incidence did not correlate with searches for non-symptoms, but in some weeks had high correlation with taste and smell loss searches, which also correlated with each other. Correlation of the sensory symptoms with new COVID-19 cases for each country as a whole was high at some time points, but decreased (Italy) or dramatically fluctuated over time (US). Smell loss searches correlated with the incidence of media reports in the US. Our results show that popularity of symptom searches is not reliable for pandemic monitoring. Awareness of this limitation is important during the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to spread and to exhibit new clinical manifestations, and for potential future health threats.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-77316-3