Analysis of dermatologic conditions in Turkey and Italy by using Google Trends analysis in the era of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Kutlu, Ömer

Many areas of life including patterns of dermatological diseases that patient attend to the hospital were tremendously affected by implementing stay‐at‐home orders during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We aimed to identify the dermatologic interest of the public during the COVID‐19 pandemic by using Google Trends. The terms “acne”, “hair loss”, “eczema”, “genital warts”, “molluscum contagiosum”, “botox”, “skin cancer”, “sunscreen” were analyzed on first April, first May, first June 2020, and the corresponding period of the previous year in Turkey and Italy by using Google Trends. The searching spectrum was between 3first March 2019‐first June 2020. The relative change of search term “acne” was +10, +29, +13/ ‐1, +17,+33, “hair loss” was +14, +40, +16/+3, +16, +15, and “eczema” was +2, +34, −4/ +3, +25, +18, on the other hand, the relative change of the “genital warts” was −15, −48, +10/ ‐44, −30, +18 and “molluscum contagiosum” was −12, −2, −4/ ‐4, −1, −12 while “botox” was, −10, −43, −8/ ‐41, −31, +4, “skin cancer” was −27, −38, −38/−22,+33, −7 and sunscreen was −6, −25, −71/−13,0,‐45 in Turkey/Italy on 1 st April, 1 st May, and 1 st June, 2020, respectively. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between the number of COVID‐19 cases in Turkey and search terms of the general dermatology group during the COVID‐19 pandemic (P < 0.05). The search terms including “acne”, “eczema”, “hair loss” appears to be increasing while “molluscum contagiosum”, “genital warts” “botox”, “skin cancer”, and “sunscreen” decreasing in the era of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Understanding the trends and impacts of dermatologic diseases on public perceptions during the COVID‐19 pandemic will allow for better preparation of dermatologists. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.