Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Mar 12, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 12, 2025 - May 7, 2025
Date Accepted: Jun 11, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Conjunctivitis seasonal variation in Saudi Arabia using Google Trends and reduction of searches during COVID-19 pandemic
ABSTRACT
This study investigate the conjunctivitis search term seasonality in Saudi Arabia using GTs data from January 2011 to October 2024, and to assess the impact of public health preventive measures for COVID-19 pandemic on the search volume for conjunctivitis. Cosinor analysis showed a significant seasonal fluctuation with highest interest occurred in February and lowest in August (p<0.001). An ARIMA model revealed 55.3% decrease in the RSV during COVID-19 pandemic with disruption of seasonal pattern. Our finding suggest public search behavior, which reflect indirectly on the likely cases number, follow seasonal variation that were disrupted with reduction of search volume for conjunctivitis due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
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