Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes seasonal outbreaks of respiratory tract infections in children, leading to increased emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Although the risk of severe illnesses difficult to predict, the sudden surge in RSV may strain the health care system. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the utility of Google Trends search activity on RSV to predict changes in RSV-related hospitalizations in children in the United States in 2019.
A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of pediatric hospitalization was conducted using the 2019 HCUP-Kids Inpatient Database. Google Trends search activity for "RSV" was abstracted as a monthly relative interest score for 2019. RSV-related hospitalizations were identified using International Classification of Diseases 9/10 codes. We applied finite distributed lag models to estimate the causal effect over time of historical relative search activity and long-run propensity to calculate the cumulative effect of changes in relative search activity on admission rate.
Of the total 102 127 RSV-related pediatric hospitalizations, 90% were in those aged ≤2 years. Admissions were common in males (55%), non-Hispanic Whites (50%), and South region (39%). Across 2o successive months, the cumulative effect of a 1-unit score increase in relative interest was associated with an increase of 140.7 (95% confidence interval, 96.2-185.2; P < .05) RSV-related admissions.
Historic Google Trends search activity for RSV predicts lead-time RSV-related pediatric hospitalization. Further studies are needed to validate these findings using regional health systems.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 December 2023.
All research outputs
#21,661,024
of 34,412,533 outputs
Outputs from Hospital Pediatrics
#664
of 1,552 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#180,697
of 395,038 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Hospital Pediatrics
#12
of 37 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,412,533 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 36th percentile – i.e., 36% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,552 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.4. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 55% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 395,038 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 53% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 37 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 67% of its contemporaries.
