Clinical Edge

Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions

Web Trends in Prostate Cancer Care Interest

Key clinical point: Google Trends may be a useful tool in tracking public interest, especially as it relates to major shifts in practice guidelines.

Major finding: Online interest in PSA screening differed by time period, South Carolina had the highest online interest, and Hawaii had the lowest online interest.

Study details: Google Trends was queried, via a search volume index (SVI), using the terms "prostate cancer", "prostate specific antigen" (PSA), and "prostate biopsy" from January 2004 to January 2019.

Citation:

Rezaee ME, et al. BJU Int. 2019 Jun 17. doi: 10.1111/bju.14846.

Commentary:

Objective and accurate information regarding prostate cancer is of utmost importance. Rezaee et al. present an important and intriguing study about Google search pattern trends in relation to major recommendations disseminated by the USPSTF regarding prostate cancer screening. The findings demonstrate that major guideline announcements may be associated with public information-gathering patterns. Further studies to determine what kinds of sites are being queried would be an important next step. Potential dissemination of misinformation on non-vetted sites is a risk on the internet. This study signals the importance of well-vetted sites with appropriate amounts of non-biased information for patients and families. —Mark A. Klein, MD