The Effects of Online Health Information–Seeking Behavior on Sexually Transmitted Disease in China: Infodemiology Study of the Internet Search Queries

BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a serious issue worldwide. With the popularity of the internet, online health information-seeking behavior (OHISB) has been widely adopted to improve health and prevent disease. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of different types of OHISBs on STDs, including syphilis, gonorrhea, and AIDS due to HIV, based on the Baidu index. METHODS: Multisource big data were collected, including case numbers of STDs, search queries based on the Baidu index, provincial total population, male-female ratio, the proportion of the population older than 65 years, gross regional domestic product (GRDP), and health institution number data in 2011-2018 in mainland China. We categorized OHISBs into 4 types: concept, symptoms, treatment, and prevention. Before and after controlling for socioeconomic and medical conditions, we applied multiple linear regression to analyze associations between the Baidu search index (BSI) and Baidu search rate (BSR) and STD case numbers. In addition, we compared the effects of 4 types of OHISBs and performed time lag cross-correlation analyses to investigate the long-term effect of OHISB. RESULTS: The distributions of both STD case numbers and OHISBs presented variability. For case number, syphilis, and gonorrhea, cases were mainly distributed in southeastern and northwestern areas of China, while HIV/AIDS cases were mostly distributed in southwestern areas. For the search query, the eastern region had the highest BSI and BSR, while the western region had the lowest ones. For 4 types of OHISB for 3 diseases, the BSI was positively related to the case number, while the BSR was significantly negatively related to the case number (P<.05). Different categories of OHISB have different effects on STD case numbers. Searches for prevention tended to have a larger impact, while searches for treatment tended to have a smaller impact. Besides, due to the time lag effect, those impacts would increase over time. CONCLUSIONS: Our study validated the significant associations between 4 types of OHISBs and STD case numbers, and the impact of OHISBs on STDs became stronger over time. It may provide insights into how to use internet big data to better achieve disease surveillance and prevention goals.