JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has the third highest cancer mortality rate in the United States. Enhanced screening has reduced mortality rates, but certain populations remain at high risk, namely African Americans. Raising awareness among at-risk populations may lead to improved CRC outcomes. The influence of celebrity death and illness is an important driver of public awareness. As such, the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman from CRC may have influenced CRC awareness.

Objective:

To assess the influence of Chadwick Boseman's passing on the United States public interest in CRC evidenced by internet searches, website traffic, and donations to prominent cancer organizations.

Methods:

We used an auto-regressive integrated moving average model to forecast Google searching trends for the topic “Colorectal cancer” in the United States. We performed bivariate and multivariable regressions on state-wise CRC incidence rate and percent Black population. We obtained data from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Colon Cancer Foundation (CCF) for information regarding changes in website traffic and donations.

Results:

The expected national relative search volume (RSV) for “Colorectal cancer” was 2.71 (95%CI, 1.76-3.66) reflecting a 3590% (95%CI, 2632%-5582%) increase compared to expected values. With multivariable regression, the state-wise RSV increased for each percent Black population by 1.09 (SE=.18, p<.0001), with 42% of variance explained (p<.0001). The ACS reported a 58,000% increase in CRC-related website traffic the weekend following Boseman’s passing compared to the weekend before. The CCF reported a 331% increase in donations and a 144% increase in revenue the month following Boseman’s passing compared to the month prior.

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that Chadwick Boseman’s passing was associated with substantial increases in the awareness of CRC. Increased awareness of CRC may support earlier detections and better prognoses.