Are we missing out on free data? Utilizing Google Trends for establishing hemorrhoidal disease diurnality in Europe: Retrospective snapshot study

Hemorrhoidal disease is common in the general population. No papers have been published on its diurnal symptomatology. When experiencing discomfort in the perianal area, it is expected that people will perform a web search for the term “hemorrhoids”, since it is the most prominent proctological disease. Data were retrospectively collected through the Google Trends platform for each European country, with their local translation of the term “hemorrhoids”. The data obtained were averaged for the same clock times on six consecutive days and adjusted for time zones. Greece, Finland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and Gibraltar were excluded for insufficient data. Turkey and Russia were excluded because of being both in Asia and Europe. Switzerland, Belgium, and Kosovo were excluded for multiple official languages. Data were analyzed for each country separately and Europe altogether. In total, 38 010 singular data points were collected. The results were summed in 8-minute intervals and normalized to a scale 0-100 for visual clarity. Data was population-weighted to account for different population sizes. In every European country, the peak interest in the word “hemorrhoids” is at night, between two and six in the morning. The average time of googling the term is 03:44 am. A clear pattern of daily oscillations for each country and Europe was observed. Hemorrhoidal disease appears to be symptomatic at night. Google Trends platform is a novel, indirect method of collecting data on symptomatology, outcomes, and seasonal incidence of diseases. It is a free tool, provides large-scale data, and bypasses financial and time constraints.