With Scientific Production: The Example Of Syphilis And Gonorrhea

Abstract

The objective of this work was to analyze the association between searching for information on syphilis and gonorrhea through Google, and scientific production on these two sexually transmitted infections. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out. The data were obtained from direct, online consultation , Google Trends and MEDLINE (via PubMed), with the use of the terms “ Syphilis ” and “ Gonorrhea ”. The variables studied were: relative search volume (VBR), average monthly VBR (VBRm), references (REF) and average monthly REF (REFm). The VBRm for the term Syphilis showed slight increasing progression and exponential adjustment (R ² = 0.05; p = 0.42); For Gonorrhea, the VBRm evolution was increasing with linear adjustment (R ² = 0.67; p < 0.01). The mREF for scientific production on Syphilis showed an increasing linear fit (R ² = 0.42; p= 0.01) and for the mREF on Gonorrhea it was an increasing exponential fit (R ² = 0.47; p= 0.01). The relationship of the VBRm for the term Syphilis in relation to its REFm gave a poor association (R= 0.11; p= 0.69). This relationship for Gonorrhea showed a significant positive correlation (R= 0.67; p= 0.01). The results obtained did not allow us to obtain a firm conclusion that answered the objective of this work. From now on, with greater monitoring, it will be possible to obtain results that confirm, or not, the association between the search for information and scientific production on health-related topics.