Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023
Date Accepted: Nov 28, 2023
The Changing Landscape of HIV-Testing Preferences in Japan: An Infodemiology Study of Online Search Volume for HIV Tests During the COVID-19 Pandemic
ABSTRACT
Background:
Research has found a COVID-19 pandemic-related impact on HIV medical services, including clinic visits, testing, and antiviral therapy initiation in countries including Japan. However, the change in trend for HIV/AIDS testing during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been explored extensively in the Japanese population.
Objective:
This infodemiology study examined the online search interest for HIV self-test kits and facility-based testing before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
Methods:
The monthly search volume of queried search terms was obtained from Yahoo! JAPAN. Search volumes for the following queries were collected, HIV test, HIV test kit, and HIV test health center, from November 2018 to October 2022. The search term Corona PCR and the number of new COVID-19 cases by month were used as a control for search trends.
Results:
Compared to the search volume of ‘corona-PCR,’ which fluctuated roughly corresponding to the number of new COVID-19 cases in Japan, the search volume of ‘HIV test’ was relatively constant from 2019 to 2022. The respective online search interest in HIV self-testing and facility-based testing showed distinct patterns during 2018–2022: While the search volume of ‘HIV test kit’ remained stable, that of ‘HIV test health center’ displayed a trend of decrease starting from 2018, and stayed low ever since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic. Around 66–71% of the search volume of HIV test kits was attributable to searches made by males across 2018–2022, and the top three contributing age groups were those aged 30–39 (27–32%), 20–29 (19–32%), and 40–49 (19–25%) years. On the other hand, the search volume of HIV test health centers by male users decreased from above 500 in 2018–2019 to below 300 in 2020–2022.
Conclusions:
The previously reported COVID-19-related decrease in the number of HIV tests mostly likely referred to facility-base testing; our study demonstrated that the online search interest in HIV test kits has remained stable before and during the COVID-19 crisis in Japan, calling for a more comprehensive application and regulatory acceptance of HIV self-instructed tests.
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