背景:α-gal综合征是一种新兴的过敏,其特征是对红肉中发现的碳水化合物分子α-gal的免疫反应。这种独特的食物过敏可能是由蜱叮咬引发的。过敏病例呈上升趋势,但目前尚不存在患病率估计。此外,不同的症状和医疗保健提供者对过敏的认识有限会导致诊断延迟,引导个人寻找自己的信息并进行潜在的自我诊断。
目的:该研究旨在(1)描述与alpha-gal相关的信息寻求的数量和模式,(2)探索alpha-gal与孤星蜱的相关性,和(3)确定个人正在搜索与alpha-gal相关的特定感兴趣区域。
方法:Google趋势增压-瞥见,谷歌趋势的新扩展,提供搜索和相关搜索查询的绝对量的估计。此扩展用于评估搜索alpha-gal和孤星tick(孤星tick,阿尔法加勒,和肉类过敏,以及食物过敏的比较)在美国。时间序列分析用于检查搜索量随时间的趋势,使用Spearman相关矩阵和choropleth图探索alpha-gal和孤星tick搜索之间的地理和时间相关性。对相关搜索查询进行了内容分析,以识别信息寻求者感兴趣的主题和子类别。
结果:时间序列分析显示,从2015年开始,alpha-gal的搜索量呈快速增长趋势。在适应长期趋势后,季节性趋势,和媒体报道,从2015年到2022年,alpha-gal搜索量的预测调整后平均年百分比变化为33.78%。平均搜索量的估计总体变化为627%。相比之下,孤星蜱的年平均百分比变化为9.23%,7.34%为肉类过敏,和2.45%的食物过敏在这段时间。地理分析显示,alpha-gal和孤星tick搜索之间存在很强的显著相关性,尤其是在最近几年(ρ=0.80;P<.001),在美国东南部地区发现了主要的重叠和最高的搜索率。内容分析确定了10个主要感兴趣的主题:饮食,诊断或测试,治疗,药物或药物禁忌症,症状,tick相关,特定的信息来源和位置,通识教育信息,alpha-gal的替代词,无关或其他。
结论:该研究提供了对alpha-gal不断变化的信息寻求模式的见解,表明日益增长的意识和兴趣。Alpha-gal搜索量正在快速增长。了解具体的问题和疑虑可以帮助卫生保健提供者和公共卫生教育工作者调整沟通策略。GoogleTrendsSupercharged-Glimpse工具提供了增强的功能,用于分析信息寻求行为,并且对于信息统计研究具有重要价值。需要进一步的研究来探索alpha-gal综合征的患病率和影响的演变。
BACKGROUND: Alpha-gal syndrome is an emerging allergy characterized by an immune reaction to the carbohydrate molecule alpha-gal found in red meat. This unique food allergy is likely triggered by a tick bite. Cases of the allergy are on the rise, but prevalence estimates do not currently exist. Furthermore, varying symptoms and limited awareness of the allergy among health care providers contribute to delayed diagnosis, leading individuals to seek out their own information and potentially self-diagnose.
OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to (1) describe the volume and patterns of information-seeking related to alpha-gal, (2) explore correlations between alpha-gal and lone star ticks, and (3) identify specific areas of interest that individuals are searching for in relation to alpha-gal.
METHODS: Google Trends Supercharged-Glimpse, a new extension of Google Trends, provides estimates of the absolute volume of searches and related search queries. This extension was used to assess trends in searches for alpha-gal and lone star ticks (lone star tick, alpha gal, and meat allergy, as well as food allergy for comparison) in the United States. Time series analyses were used to examine search volume trends over time, and Spearman correlation matrices and choropleth maps were used to explore geographic and temporal correlations between alpha-gal and lone star tick searches. Content analysis was performed on related search queries to identify themes and subcategories that are of interest to information seekers.
RESULTS: Time series analysis revealed a rapidly increasing trend in search volumes for alpha-gal beginning in 2015. After adjusting for long-term trends, seasonal trends, and media coverage, from 2015 to 2022, the predicted adjusted average annual percent change in search volume for alpha-gal was 33.78%. The estimated overall change in average search volume was 627%. In comparison, the average annual percent change was 9.23% for lone star tick, 7.34% for meat allergy, and 2.45% for food allergy during this time. Geographic analysis showed strong significant correlations between alpha-gal and lone star tick searches especially in recent years (ρ=0.80; P<.001), with primary overlap and highest search rates found in the southeastern region of the United States. Content analysis identified 10 themes of primary interest: diet, diagnosis or testing, treatment, medications or contraindications of medications, symptoms, tick related, specific sources of information and locations, general education information, alternative words for alpha-gal, and unrelated or other.
CONCLUSIONS: The study provides insights into the changing information-seeking patterns for alpha-gal, indicating growing awareness and interest. Alpha-gal search volume is increasing at a rapid rate. Understanding specific questions and concerns can help health care providers and public health educators to tailor communication strategies. The Google Trends Supercharged-Glimpse tool offers enhanced features for analyzing information-seeking behavior and can be valuable for infodemiology research. Further research is needed to explore the evolving prevalence and impact of alpha-gal syndrome.