Public Health and Preventive Medicine Archive
Vol. 12 No. 2 (2024)

The increase of asthma self-medication in Indonesia during COVID-19 Pandemic: An infodemiology study using Google Trends

Setiawan, Hendri (Unknown)
Rahmah, Atika (Unknown)
Hartanto, Nadira Rachmianti (Unknown)
Awanis, Ghina Shabrina (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Dec 2024

Abstract

Background and purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly interrupted the care of asthma patients. In order to determine whether online search data and the number of COVID-19 cases were related, many Google Trends-based investigations were carried out throughout the pandemic. This study investigates whether asthma patients use the internet for self-management and treatment advice. Methods: A netnographic approach with data sources from Google Trends was used in our research. The data were taken from www.https://trends.google.co.id and were collected within two timeframes: (1) the beginning of COVID-19 (March 2, 2018-March 1, 2020) and (2) during the pandemic COVID-19 (March 2, 2020-March 1, 2022). The data is displayed graphically on a scale of 0 to 100, referred to as the Relative Search Volume (RSV). The Spearman correlation test on each keyword and the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia were done in SPSS version 25 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) to determine if a correlation existed. Results: This study found an increased search volume for asthma therapy. According to the correlation test results, the keywords "inhaler" and "nebulizer" significantly correlated with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. However, no link between asthma symptoms and the number of COVID-19 was found. Conclusion:Indonesians sought more information on asthma self-medication during the rise of COVID-19, however not directly associated with the prevalence of the disease. Google Trends can become a potential source to explore people behaviour in relation to certain health information, however it cannot be used as the sole data collection tool for health research, especially in Indonesia.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

phpma

Publisher

Subject

Public Health

Description

ublic Health and Preventive Medicine Archive (PHPMA) is an open access, peer reviewed journal published by Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University. Issues covered in the journal are as the following: Environmental and occupational health Field and ...