We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Clinical Predictors of SARS-CoV-2 Testing Pressure on Clinical Laboratories: A Multinational Study Analyzing Google Trends and Over 100 Million Diagnostic Tests.
- Authors
Lippi, Giuseppe; Mattiuzzi, Camilla; Oliveira, Maria Helena Santos de; Henry, Brandon M
- Abstract
Objective Evidence has shown that Google searches for clinical symptom keywords correlates with the number of new weekly patients with COVID-19. This multinational study assessed whether demand for SARS-CoV-2 tests could also be predicted by Google searches for key COVID-19 symptoms. Methods The weekly number of SARS-CoV-2 tests performed in Italy and the United States was retrieved from official sources. A concomitant electronic search was performed in Google Trends, using terms for key COVID-19 symptoms. Results The model that provided the highest coefficient of determination for the United States (R 2 = 82.8%) included a combination of searching for cough (with a time lag of 2 weeks), fever (with a time lag of 2 weeks), and headache (with a time lag of 3 weeks; the time lag refers to the amount of time between when a search was conducted and when a test was administered). In Italy, headache provided the model with the highest adjusted R 2 (86.8%), with time lags of both 1 and 2 weeks. Conclusion Weekly monitoring of Google Trends scores for nonspecific COVID-19 symptoms is a reliable approach for anticipating SARS-CoV-2 testing demands ~2 weeks in the future.
- Subjects
UNITED States; PATHOLOGICAL laboratories; INTERNET; REGRESSION analysis; SEARCH engines; INFORMATION retrieval; CENTERS for Disease Control &; Prevention (U.S.); DESCRIPTIVE statistics; COVID-19 testing; DATA analysis software; MEDICAL needs assessment; EVALUATION
- Publication
Laboratory Medicine, 2021, Vol 52, Issue 4, p311
- ISSN
0007-5027
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/labmed/lmab013