Internet Search Patterns of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and the Digital Divide in the Russian Federation: Infoveillance Study

Background

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a serious health problem in the Russian Federation. However, the true scale of HIV in Russia has long been the subject of considerable debate. Using digital surveillance to monitor diseases has become increasingly popular in high income countries. But Internet users may not be representative of overall populations, and the characteristics of the Internet-using population cannot be directly ascertained from search pattern data. This exploratory infoveillance study examined if Internet search patterns can be used for disease surveillance in a large middle-income country with a dispersed population.

Objective

This study had two main objectives: (1) to validate Internet search patterns against national HIV prevalence data, and (2) to investigate the relationship between search patterns and the determinants of Internet access.

Methods

We first assessed whether online surveillance is a valid and reliable method for monitoring HIV in the Russian Federation. Yandex and Google both provided tools to study search patterns in the Russian Federation. We evaluated the relationship between both Yandex and Google aggregated search patterns and HIV prevalence in 2011 at national and regional tiers. Second, we analyzed the determinants of Internet access to determine the extent to which they explained regional variations in searches for the Russian terms for “HIV” and “AIDS”. We sought to extend understanding of the characteristics of Internet searching populations by data matching the determinants of Internet access (age, education, income, broadband access price, and urbanization ratios) and searches for the term “HIV” using principal component analysis (PCA).

Results

We found generally strong correlations between HIV prevalence and searches for the terms “HIV” and “AIDS”. National correlations for Yandex searches for “HIV” were very strongly correlated with HIV prevalence (Spearman rank-order coefficient [rs]=.881, P≤.001) and strongly correlated for “AIDS” (rs=.714, P≤.001). The strength of correlations varied across Russian regions. National correlations in Google for the term “HIV” (rs=.672, P=.004) and “AIDS” (rs=.584, P≤.001) were weaker than for Yandex. Second, we examined the relationship between the determinants of Internet access and search patterns for the term “HIV” across Russia using PCA. At the national level, we found Principal Component 1 loadings, including age (-0.56), HIV search (-0.533), and education (-0.479) contributed 32% of the variance. Principal Component 2 contributed 22% of national variance (income, -0.652 and broadband price, -0.460).

Conclusions

This study contributes to the methodological literature on search patterns in public health. Based on our preliminary research, we suggest that PCA may be used to evaluate the relationship between the determinants of Internet access and searches for health problems beyond high-income countries. We believe it is in middle-income countries that search methods can make the greatest contribution to public health.     

Searching for Truth: Internet Search Patterns as a Method of Investigating Online Responses to a Russian Illicit Drug Policy Debate

Background

This is a methodological study investigating the online responses to a national debate over an important health and social problem in Russia. Russia is the largest Internet market in Europe, exceeding Germany in the absolute number of users. However, Russia is unusual in that the main search provider is not Google, but Yandex.

Objective

This study had two main objectives. First, to validate Yandex search patterns against those provided by Google, and second, to test this method''s adequacy for investigating online interest in a 2010 national debate over Russian illicit drug policy. We hoped to learn what search patterns and specific search terms could reveal about the relative importance and geographic distribution of interest in this debate.

Methods

A national drug debate, centering on the anti-drug campaigner Egor Bychkov, was one of the main Russian domestic news events of 2010. Public interest in this episode was accompanied by increased Internet search. First, we measured the search patterns for 13 search terms related to the Bychkov episode and concurrent domestic events by extracting data from Google Insights for Search (GIFS) and Yandex WordStat (YaW). We conducted Spearman Rank Correlation of GIFS and YaW search data series. Second, we coded all 420 primary posts from Bychkov''s personal blog between March 2010 and March 2012 to identify the main themes. Third, we compared GIFS and Yandex policies concerning the public release of search volume data. Finally, we established the relationship between salient drug issues and the Bychkov episode.

Results

We found a consistent pattern of strong to moderate positive correlations between Google and Yandex for the terms "Egor Bychkov" (r _s = 0.88, P < .001), “Bychkov” (r _s = .78, P < .001) and “Khimki”(r _s = 0.92, P < .001). Peak search volumes for the Bychkov episode were comparable to other prominent domestic political events during 2010. Monthly search counts were 146,689 for “Bychkov” and 48,084 for “Egor Bychkov”, compared to 53,403 for “Khimki” in Yandex. We found Google potentially provides timely search results, whereas Yandex provides more accurate geographic localization. The correlation was moderate to strong between search terms representing the Bychkov episode and terms representing salient drug issues in Yandex–“illicit drug treatment” (r _s = .90, P < .001), "illicit drugs" (r _s = .76, P < .001), and "drug addiction" (r _s = .74, P < .001). Google correlations were weaker or absent–"illicit drug treatment" (r _s = .12, P = .58), “illicit drugs ” (r _s = -0.29, P = .17), and "drug addiction" (r _s = .68, P < .001).

Conclusions

This study contributes to the methodological literature on the analysis of search patterns for public health. This paper investigated the relationship between Google and Yandex, and contributed to the broader methods literature by highlighting both the potential and limitations of these two search providers. We believe that Yandex Wordstat is a potentially valuable, and underused data source for researchers working on Russian-related illicit drug policy and other public health problems. The Russian Federation, with its large, geographically dispersed, and politically engaged online population presents unique opportunities for studying the evolving influence of the Internet on politics and policy, using low cost methods resilient against potential increases in censorship.     

Tracking Dabbing Using Search Query Surveillance: A Case Study in the United States

BackgroundDabbing is an emerging method of marijuana ingestion. However, little is known about dabbing owing to limited surveillance data on dabbing.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to analyze Google search data to assess the scope and breadth of information seeking on dabbing.MethodsGoogle Trends data about dabbing and related topics (eg, electronic nicotine delivery system [ENDS], also known as e-cigarettes) in the United States between January 2004 and December 2015 were collected by using relevant search terms such as “dab rig.” The correlation between dabbing (including topics: dab and hash oil) and ENDS (including topics: vaping and e-cigarette) searches, the regional distribution of dabbing searches, and the impact of cannabis legalization policies on geographical location in 2015 were analyzed.ResultsSearches regarding dabbing increased in the United States over time, with 1,526,280 estimated searches during 2015. Searches for dab and vaping have very similar temporal patterns, where the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) is .992 (P<.001). Similar phenomena were also obtained in searches for hash oil and e-cigarette, in which the corresponding PCC is .931 (P<.001). Dabbing information was searched more in some western states than other regions. The average dabbing searches were significantly higher in the states with medical and recreational marijuana legalization than in the states with only medical marijuana legalization (P=.02) or the states without medical and recreational marijuana legalization (P=.01).ConclusionsPublic interest in dabbing is increasing in the United States. There are close associations between dabbing and ENDS searches. The findings suggest greater popularity of dabs in the states that legalized medical and recreational marijuana use. This study proposes a novel and timely way of cannabis surveillance, and these findings can help enhance the understanding of the popularity of dabbing and provide insights for future research and informed policy making on dabbing.     

Infodemiology and Infoveillance: Framework for an Emerging Set of Public Health Informatics Methods to Analyze Search,Communication and Publication Behavior on the Internet

Infodemiology can be defined as the science of distribution and determinants of information in an electronic medium, specifically the Internet, or in a population, with the ultimate aim to inform public health and public policy. Infodemiology data can be collected and analyzed in near real time. Examples for infodemiology applications include: the analysis of queries from Internet search engines to predict disease outbreaks (eg. influenza); monitoring peoples'' status updates on microblogs such as Twitter for syndromic surveillance; detecting and quantifying disparities in health information availability; identifying and monitoring of public health relevant publications on the Internet (eg. anti-vaccination sites, but also news articles or expert-curated outbreak reports); automated tools to measure information diffusion and knowledge translation, and tracking the effectiveness of health marketing campaigns. Moreover, analyzing how people search and navigate the Internet for health-related information, as well as how they communicate and share this information, can provide valuable insights into health-related behavior of populations. Seven years after the infodemiology concept was first introduced, this paper revisits the emerging fields of infodemiology and infoveillance and proposes an expanded framework, introducing some basic metrics such as information prevalence, concept occurrence ratios, and information incidence. The framework distinguishes supply-based applications (analyzing what is being published on the Internet, eg. on Web sites, newsgroups, blogs, microblogs and social media) from demand-based methods (search and navigation behavior), and further distinguishes passive from active infoveillance methods. Infodemiology metrics follow population health relevant events or predict them. Thus, these metrics and methods are potentially useful for public health practice and research, and should be further developed and standardized.     

Tick-borne encephalitis in the Russian Federation: state-of-the-art and prevention policy

The last quarter of the 20th century in the Russian Federation was marked by an unprecedented increase in the incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) with its peaks in 1996 and 1999 when as high as 10,000 cases of the disease were notified. Its highest incidence was recorded in the Regions of the Urals and Siberia. As many as 70-80% of the persons who felt ill were urban dwellers who had been infected mainly in the anthropurgic foci occurring in abundance in the environs of cities and towns. It was found that the area of TBE had been expanded and virus-infected ticks had actively penetrated into the urban parks and small public gardens. There were as many as 70 TBE-endemic regions. As of now, it has been ascertained that TBE foci are generally combined with other infections transmitted by Ixodes ticks and caused by viruses, bacteria, rickettsia and protozoa. This result is the occurrence of mixed infections, which requires new approaches to their diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The prevention of TBE is conventionally based on vaccination of high-risk groups comprising mainly "forest" occupations. Under the present conditions, the strategy of TBE control should be radically revised towards mass vaccination of the population living in the highly endemic areas, which will drastically reduced morbidity in the country.     

Using Twitter Data to Gain Insights into E-cigarette Marketing and Locations of Use: An Infoveillance Study

Background

Marketing and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other electronic nicotine delivery devices have increased exponentially in recent years fueled, in part, by marketing and word-of-mouth communications via social media platforms, such as Twitter.

Objective

This study examines Twitter posts about e-cigarettes between 2008 and 2013 to gain insights into (1) marketing trends for selling and promoting e-cigarettes and (2) locations where people use e-cigarettes.

Methods

We used keywords to gather tweets about e-cigarettes between July 1, 2008 and February 28, 2013. A randomly selected subset of tweets was manually coded as advertising (eg, marketing, advertising, sales, promotion) or nonadvertising (eg, individual users, consumers), and classification algorithms were trained to code the remaining data into these 2 categories. A combination of manual coding and natural language processing methods was used to indicate locations where people used e-cigarettes. Additional metadata were used to generate insights about users who tweeted most frequently about e-cigarettes.

Results

We identified approximately 1.7 million tweets about e-cigarettes between 2008 and 2013, with the majority of these tweets being advertising (93.43%, 1,559,508/1,669,123). Tweets about e-cigarettes increased more than tenfold between 2009 and 2010, suggesting a rapid increase in the popularity of e-cigarettes and marketing efforts. The Twitter handles tweeting most frequently about e-cigarettes were a mixture of e-cigarette brands, affiliate marketers, and resellers of e-cigarette products. Of the 471 e-cigarette tweets mentioning a specific place, most mentioned e-cigarette use in class (39.1%, 184/471) followed by home/room/bed (12.5%, 59/471), school (12.1%, 57/471), in public (8.7%, 41/471), the bathroom (5.7%, 27/471), and at work (4.5%, 21/471).

Conclusions

Twitter is being used to promote e-cigarettes by different types of entities and the online marketplace is more diverse than offline product offerings and advertising strategies. E-cigarettes are also being used in public places, such as schools, underscoring the need for education and enforcement of policies banning e-cigarette use in public places. Twitter data can provide new insights on e-cigarettes to help inform future research, regulations, surveillance, and enforcement efforts.     

Examining the Relationship Between Past Orientation and US Suicide Rates: An Analysis Using Big Data-Driven Google Search Queries

Background

Internet search query data reflect the attitudes of the users, using which we can measure the past orientation to commit suicide. Examinations of past orientation often highlight certain predispositions of attitude, many of which can be suicide risk factors.

Objective

To investigate the relationship between past orientation and suicide rate by examining Google search queries.

Methods

We measured the past orientation using Google search query data by comparing the search volumes of the past year and those of the future year, across the 50 US states and the District of Columbia during the period from 2004 to 2012. We constructed a panel dataset with independent variables as control variables; we then undertook an analysis using multiple ordinary least squares regression and methods that leverage the Akaike information criterion and the Bayesian information criterion.

Results

It was found that past orientation had a positive relationship with the suicide rate (P≤.001) and that it improves the goodness-of-fit of the model regarding the suicide rate. Unemployment rate (P≤.001 in Models 3 and 4), Gini coefficient (P≤.001), and population growth rate (P≤.001) had a positive relationship with the suicide rate, whereas the gross state product (P≤.001) showed a negative relationship with the suicide rate.

Conclusions

We empirically identified the positive relationship between the suicide rate and past orientation, which was measured by big data-driven Google search query.     

A Search Engine to Access PubMed Monolingual Subsets: Proof of Concept and Evaluation in French

BackgroundPubMed contains numerous articles in languages other than English. However, existing solutions to access these articles in the language in which they were written remain unconvincing.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to propose a practical search engine, called Multilingual PubMed, which will permit access to a PubMed subset in 1 language and to evaluate the precision and coverage for the French version (Multilingual PubMed-French).MethodsTo create this tool, translations of MeSH were enriched (eg, adding synonyms and translations in French) and integrated into a terminology portal. PubMed subsets in several European languages were also added to our database using a dedicated parser. The response time for the generic semantic search engine was evaluated for simple queries. BabelMeSH, Multilingual PubMed-French, and 3 different PubMed strategies were compared by searching for literature in French. Precision and coverage were measured for 20 randomly selected queries. The results were evaluated as relevant to title and abstract, the evaluator being blind to search strategy.ResultsMore than 650,000 PubMed citations in French were integrated into the Multilingual PubMed-French information system. The response times were all below the threshold defined for usability (2 seconds). Two search strategies (Multilingual PubMed-French and 1 PubMed strategy) showed high precision (0.93 and 0.97, respectively), but coverage was 4 times higher for Multilingual PubMed-French.ConclusionsIt is now possible to freely access biomedical literature using a practical search tool in French. This tool will be of particular interest for health professionals and other end users who do not read or query sufficiently in English. The information system is theoretically well suited to expand the approach to other European languages, such as German, Spanish, Norwegian, and Portuguese.     

数字搜索能力测验与卡特尔16种个性因素测验的相关研究

目的研究如何准确鉴定军校毕业生的心理健康水平。方法使用DXC-6型多项群体心理测评仪,对某军校663名应届本科毕业生进行数字搜索测验和卡特尔16种个性因素测验(16PF)。结果毕业生数字搜索测验结果呈负偏态分布,且该测验得分与人格特质中B(r=0.17)、C(r=0.11)、G(r=0.10)、Y1(r=0.09)、Y2(r=0.13)、Y4(r=0.15)因子显著正相关,与L(r=-0.10)、Q4(r=-0.08)、X1(r=-0.11)因子呈显著负相关(P0.05);16PF答题时间受到个性的影响,其中C(r=-0.16)、N(r=0.10)、O(r=0.13)、Q1(r=-0.12)因子对答题时间影响最大(P0.01);对数字搜索测验结果进行分组,低分组16PF答题时间比高分组长。结论对军校毕业生进行心理鉴定时加入数字搜索测验可提高准确率。     

Prevalence and correlates of tobacco use among Russian cancer patients: Implications for the development of smoking cessation interventions at a cancer center in Russia

This study examined the rate of smoking among 399 cancer patients in Russia and assessed correlates of tobacco use and readiness to quit smoking. The results indicated that (a) 41.6% of patients were smokers; and (b) smokers were likely to be male, have lung or colorectal cancer, exhibit low levels of knowledge concerning the negative effects of smoking, report a low level of advantages to quitting smoking and a high level of disadvantages to quitting smoking, show low perceived risk for the adverse effects of smoking, and exhibit high fatalistic beliefs. Though certain findings converge well with data collected from U.S. samples of cancer patients, these results can guide the development of smoking interventions that address the specific needs of Russian cancer patients. In sum, this study fills a critical gap in knowledge concerning the epidemic of tobacco use in Russia and broadens research regarding tobacco use by cancer patients from the United States to the Russian Federation. Support for this study was provided by National Institutes of Health grant CA95678 (R. Schnoll) and by a U.S. federal appropriation to the American-Russian Cancer Alliance.     

Atopy in Norwegian and Russian adults: a population-based study from the common border area

Background: Several studies have concluded that atopy is more common in Western than in Eastern Europe. We aimed to study whether a similar difference exists between Norwegian and Russian adults living in geographically adjacent areas. Methods: A cross‐sectional population‐based study was performed in Sør‐ Varanger municipality (Norway) and in the cities of Nikel and Zapolyarny (Russia). The Russian cities are heavily polluted by sulfur dioxide from local nickel industry. In addition to questionnaire information, results on IgE sensitization (S‐Phadiatop, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Uppsala, Sweden) were obtained from 3134 Norwegian and 709 Russian participants. Results: A positive Phadiatop was found in 20.7% of the Norwegians (men 21.9%, women 19.7%) and in 27.5% of the Russians (men 35.7%, women 23.0%); the sex‐ and age‐adjusted relative risk of testing positive in Russia being 1.49 (95% CI 1.23–1.81). The Norwegian participants reported more atopic dermatitis and hay fever, although this difference was statistically significant only for atopic dermatitis in women. Conclusion: IgE sensitization was more common in Russia than in Norway, unlike findings from other east–west European studies. The Russians did not, however, report more atopic diseases. This discrepancy might reflect different awareness of allergies in the two countries and demonstrates the need for objective markers of atopy when comparing prevalence in different populations.     

Behavioral Assessments in Russian Addiction Treatment Inpatients: A Comparison of Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing and Interviewer-Administered Questionnaires

Abstract

Purpose: Assess agreement between reported sex and drug use behaviors from audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) and interviewer-administered questionnaire (IAQ). Method: Participants (N = 180) enrolled in an HIV intervention trial in Russia completed ACASI and IAQ on the same day. Agreement between responses was evaluated. Results: Of the 13 sex behavior questions, 10 items had excellent agreement (kappas/ICC 0.80–0.95) and 3 items had moderate agreement (kappas/ICC 0.59–0.75). The 3 drug behavior questions had excellent agreement (kappas/ICC 0.94–0.97). Among HIV-specific questions asked of HIV-positive participants (n = 21) only, 2 items had excellent agreement (kappas 1.0) and 3 items had moderate agreement (kappas 0.40–0.71). Conclusions: Assessment of drug and sex risk behaviors by ACASI and IAQ had generally strong agreement for the majority of items. The lack of discrepancy may result from these Russian subjects’ perception that computers do not ensure privacy. Another potential explanatory factor is that both interviews were delivered on the same day. These data raise questions as to whether use of ACASI is uniformly beneficial in all settings, and what influence cultural factors have on its utility.     

Early and Late Selection in Young and Old Adults: An Event-Related Potential Study

The present experiment investigated differences in processing between young and old adults in a combined visual selection-memory search paradigm. No evidence was found for age-related differences in early visual selective attention. The elderly achieved relatively fast reaction times in the memory search task at the cost of a high error percentage. From these findings, and from the morphology of the event-related potential, it was concluded that old subjects perform controlled memory search more superficially than young subjects, In both old and young subjects high memory load was associated with decreased positivity in the P3 and Slow Wave area. This is interpreted in terms of Okita et al.'s(1985) concept of search negativity. N2 amplitude was found to be larger to non-target trials for both attended and unattended inputs. The latter result is discussed in relation to theories about N2 as an indicator of automatic mismatch detection.     

The Impact of Search Engine Selection and Sorting Criteria on Vaccination Beliefs and Attitudes: Two Experiments Manipulating Google Output

Background

During the past 2 decades, the Internet has evolved to become a necessity in our daily lives. The selection and sorting algorithms of search engines exert tremendous influence over the global spread of information and other communication processes.

Objective

This study is concerned with demonstrating the influence of selection and sorting/ranking criteria operating in search engines on users’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of websites about vaccination. In particular, it is to compare the effects of search engines that deliver websites emphasizing on the pro side of vaccination with those focusing on the con side and with normal Google as a control group.

Method

We conducted 2 online experiments using manipulated search engines. A pilot study was to verify the existence of dangerous health literacy in connection with searching and using health information on the Internet by exploring the effect of 2 manipulated search engines that yielded either pro or con vaccination sites only, with a group receiving normal Google as control. A pre-post test design was used; participants were American marketing students enrolled in a study-abroad program in Lugano, Switzerland. The second experiment manipulated the search engine by applying different ratios of con versus pro vaccination webpages displayed in the search results. Participants were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform where it was published as a human intelligence task (HIT).

Results

Both experiments showed knowledge highest in the group offered only pro vaccination sites (Z=–2.088, P=.03; Kruskal-Wallis H test [H₅]=11.30, P=.04). They acknowledged the importance/benefits (Z=–2.326, P=.02; H₅=11.34, P=.04) and effectiveness (Z=–2.230, P=.03) of vaccination more, whereas groups offered antivaccination sites only showed increased concern about effects (Z=–2.582, P=.01; H₅=16.88, P=.005) and harmful health outcomes (Z=–2.200, P=.02) of vaccination. Normal Google users perceived information quality to be positive despite a small effect on knowledge and a negative effect on their beliefs and attitudes toward vaccination and willingness to recommend the information (χ² ₅=14.1, P=.01). More exposure to antivaccination websites lowered participants’ knowledge (J=4783.5, z=−2.142, P=.03) increased their fear of side effects (J=6496, z=2.724, P=.006), and lowered their acknowledgment of benefits (J=4805, z=–2.067, P=.03).

Conclusion

The selection and sorting/ranking criteria of search engines play a vital role in online health information seeking. Search engines delivering websites containing credible and evidence-based medical information impact positively Internet users seeking health information. Whereas sites retrieved by biased search engines create some opinion change in users. These effects are apparently independent of users’ site credibility and evaluation judgments. Users are affected beneficially or detrimentally but are unaware, suggesting they are not consciously perceptive of indicators that steer them toward the credible sources or away from the dangerous ones. In this sense, the online health information seeker is flying blind.     

Asthma and allergy in Russian and Norwegian schoolchildren: results from two questionnaire-based studies in the Kola Peninsula, Russia, and northern Norway

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that the prevalence of asthma and allergy in children is lower in Eastern than Western Europe. METHODS: We have compared the prevalence of asthma, respiratory symptoms, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic dermatitis in schoolchildren aged 7-13 years in a questionnaire-based study conducted in the city of Nikel on the Kola Peninsula, Russia, in 1994 (n = 1143) and another conducted in northern Norway in 1995 (n = 8676). RESULTS: The prevalence of diagnosed asthma was 5.1% in Russian children and 8.6% in Norwegian children; RR =0.58 (95% CI: 0.44-0.76). The prevalence of all respiratory symptoms was higher in Russian children. The prevalence of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis was 16.9%, in Russian children and 22.1%, in Norwegian children: RR =0.74 (95% CI: 0.65-0.85). The prevalence of atopic dermatitis was 7.4% in Russian children and 19.7% in Norwegian children; RR=0.38 (95% CI: 0.31-0.46). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the prevalence of diagnosed asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic dermatitis was higher in Norwegian than Russian schoolchildren. The higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms in Russian children probably reflects a higher prevalence of undiagnosed, nonallergic asthma.     

Trends of Internet Search Volumes for Major Depressive Disorder Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Korea: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis

BackgroundThe effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on public mental health has been increasing. Additionally, the underlying psychological stressors remain unexplored, and few studies have been conducted nationally on the social distancing measures. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the psychological impacts of the implementation of social distancing measures by analyzing the Internet search trends of major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms.MethodsUsing Naver^® Trends’ relative search volumes (RSVs), we analyzed the average search volumes and trend changes of 16 terms, adopted from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 criteria for diagnosing MDD. An interrupted time-series analysis was performed using the data from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2020. Furthermore, changes in RSVs, according to the intensity of the social distancing measures implemented from January 1 to December 31, 2020, were determined using Wilcoxon rank sum tests.ResultsOf the 16 terms, the search trends of ‘feeling guilty’ (P < 0.001) and ‘wanting to die’ (P = 0.002) showed a significant increase as of February 29, 2020, when the social distancing measures were officially implemented. Additionally, the average search volumes for ‘hopelessness’ (P = 0.003), ‘sexual desire’ (P < 0.001), ‘insomnia’ (P = 0.002), ‘hypersomnia’ (P < 0.001), ‘restlessness’ (P < 0.001), and ‘feeling lethargic’ (P < 0.001) increased significantly. Moreover, gender analysis showed that the average search volume of ‘depressed mood’ (P = 0.033) and the trend of ‘impaired concentration’ (P < 0.001) increased in males only. However, the average search volume of ‘feeling lethargic’ (P = 0.001) and the trend of ‘feeling guilty’ (P = 0.001) increased in females only. The average search volumes for ‘depressed mood’ (P < 0.001), ‘impaired concentration’ (P = 0.038), and ‘indecisiveness’ (P < 0.001) were significantly higher during the enforcement of level 2 or higher social distancing measures.ConclusionOur results reported the negative effect of COVID-19 preventive measures on public mental health in South Korea, especially for MDD symptoms. Moreover, the findings suggested the utility of Naver Trends as a feasible big data source to assess future mental health crises.