Sleep Medicine Research (Dec 2017)
Trends of Public Interest in Sleep Disorders: Looking by Internet Searching Volume
Abstract
Background and Objective To investigate the trends of public interest in the sleep disorders by searching terms in Korea and English-language. Google and Naver offer the tools assessing Internet searching volumes that may represent public interest on search terms. Methods Search terms were limited to Korean in Naver Trends and English in Google Trends. We use the keywords insomnia, sleep apnea, snoring, restless legs syndrome (RLS). A reference trend of dementia was compared. Results The median Naver Trends score of insomnia [21.3, interquartile ranges (IQR), 17.9– 26.5] was consistently higher than that of dementia (11.7, IQR, 10.0–13.5), RLS (7.5, IQR, 5.9–9.3), snoring (7.3, IQR, 5.9–10.5) and sleep apnea (1.6, IQR, 1.2–2.0) January 2016–October 2017. The Naver Trends score of sleep disorders decreased over time. The median Google Trends score of dementia (49, IQR, 45–55) was higher than that of sleep apnea (42, IQR, 40–45), insomnia (36, IQR 34–38), snoring (24, IQR 21–28), and RLS (23, IQR, 22–27) January 2004–October 2017. The Google Trends score of snoring and insomnia increased over time, but RLS and sleep apnea decreased over time. However, when we matched the search period with Naver Trends, the trends scores of insomnia, sleep apnea, RLS, and dementia increased over time. Conclusions The Naver Trends score of insomnia was higher than that of dementia, but those of sleep apnea, RLS was relatively low. To the contrary, the Google Trends score of dementia and sleep apnea was higher than that of insomnia.
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