论文标题
在沙特阿拉伯的Google搜索和COVID-19案件：一项相关研究
Google Searches and COVID-19 Cases in Saudi Arabia: A Correlation Study
论文作者
论文摘要
背景：新冠状病毒病（Covid-19）的爆发在全球范围内影响了人类的生活。在冠状病毒大流行期间，早期爆发的公共卫生专业人员面临着追踪和量化疾病传播的挑战。目的：研究使用Google趋势（GT）的数字监视模型是否可行，以监测沙特阿拉伯王国冠状病毒的爆发。方法：我们使用10个常见的COVID-19症状相关的关键字从2020年3月2日至2020年10月31日检索GT数据。进行了Spearman相关性，以确定Covid-19 Case和Google搜索词之间的相关性。结果：与咳嗽和喉咙痛有关的GT数据是沙特阿拉伯互联网用户搜索最多的症状。每天最高的相关性与失去气味，然后失去味觉和腹泻。在每周确认的病例和相同的症状之间也发现了很强的相关性：气味丧失，口味和腹泻。结论：我们利用与Covid-19症状有关的互联网搜索进行了一项调查研究，以监视大流行扩散。这项研究证明了Google搜索可以用作沙特阿拉伯Covid-19监视的补充监视工具。
Background: The outbreak of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected human life to a great extent on a worldwide scale. During the coronavirus pandemic, public health professionals at the early outbreak faced an extraordinary challenge to track and quantify the spread of disease. Objective: To investigate whether a digital surveillance model using google trends (GT) is feasible to monitor the outbreak of coronavirus in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: We retrieve GT data using ten common COVID-19 symptoms related keywords from March 2, 2020, to October 31, 2020. Spearman correlation were performed to determine the correlation between COVID-19 cases and the Google search terms. Results: GT data related to Cough and Sore Throat were the most searched symptoms by the Internet users in Saudi Arabia. The highest daily correlation found with the Loss of Smell followed by Loss of Taste and Diarrhea. Strong correlation as well was found between the weekly confirmed cases and the same symptoms: Loss of Smell, Loss of Taste and Diarrhea. Conclusions: We conducted an investigation study utilizing Internet searches related to COVID-19 symptoms for surveillance of the pandemic spread. This study documents that google searches can be used as a supplementary surveillance tool in COVID-19 monitoring in Saudi Arabia.
