E0265 - Public Interest in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Increased in Subsequent Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET

Location: Crown Ballroom

Presenting Author(s)

Sarah L. Chen, BA

Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA

Sarah L. Chen, BA¹, Jacqueline L. Chen, MSc¹, Anthony Infantolino, MD², Christina Tofani, MD²
¹Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; ²Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed tremendous stress on patients’ physical and mental health nationwide. The purpose of this study was to examine public interest in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and its related symptoms during various waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We used the Google Trends Platform and the Google Search Value Index (GSVI) to quantify public interest in IBS topics between Apr 2016-May 2022. We searched the following four main search terms to examine public interest in IBS topics: “Irritable Bowel Syndrome,” “Abdominal Pain,” “Diarrhea,” and “Constipation.” We also compared public interest in IBS topics between states with vaccine mandates versus no vaccine mandates using ANOVA tests. Finally, we examined potential differences in public interest in IBS between men and women using the terms “IBS Women” and “IBS Men.”

Results: Public interest in IBS, constipation, and abdominal pain initially decreased following the onset of the pandemic (Figure 1). In March 2020, search interest in IBS, abdominal pain, and constipation decreased by 13.7%, 8.5%, and 5.4%, respectively. Search interest in diarrhea increased by 31% in March 2020. However, public interest in IBS, constipation, and diarrhea increased in the latter waves of the pandemic (delta: Jun 2021-Nov 2021, and omicron: Dec 2021-Mar 2022), leading to an overall significant increase in search popularity post-pandemic compared to pre-pandemic (Table 1, P< 0.001). During all waves of the pandemic, there was no significant difference in public interest in IBS among states with varying COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Sub-analysis on gender revealed public interest in “IBS Women” and “IBS Men” increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the increase was statistically greater in “IBS women” (P=0.047).

Discussion: Following the initial decline in public interest in most IBS related topics at the onset of the pandemic, there was a significant overall increase in public interest in IBS, diarrhea, and constipation post-pandemic compared to pre-pandemic. These results suggest that during the first wave of the pandemic, heightened focus on COVID-19 led to decreased interest in most IBS topics. The subsequent increase in public interest in IBS in latter waves of the pandemic suggest that IBS patients faced a greater disease burden during the pandemic. Our sub-analysis on gender revealed that the pandemic may have disproportionally affected women with IBS compared to men with IBS.

Figure: Figure 1A-D. Public interest in IBS (1A), Diarrhea (1B), Constipation (1C), and Abdominal Pain (1D). Green line represents google search value index (GSVI), dashed orange, blue, and purple lines represent upper control limit, lower control limit, and pre-pandemic mean GSVI, respectively. Vertical red line indicates March 2020, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Upper limit= Pre-Pandemic Mean+3*(SD), Lower limit=Pre-Pandemic Mean-3*(SD).

	Before COVID-19	First Wave (Mar-May 2020)	Delta Wave (June 2021-Nov 2021)	Omicron Wave (Dec 2021-Mar 2022)	P-Value
Irritable Bowel Syndrome	77.3 (6.9)	71.0 (5.6)	92.3 (6.1)	88.0 (8.6)	< 0.001
Diarrhea	74.6 (7.3)	82.3 (13.1)	90.8 (7.3)	92.2 (4.6)	< 0.001
Constipation	78.8 (5.8)	78.3 (4.0)	89.2 (2.4)	95.0 (5.0)	< 0.001
Abdominal Pain	87.4 (6.0)	80.7 (0.6)	88.5 (3.7)	85.8 (2.1)	0.20

Table: Table 1: Google Search Value Index (GSVI) for IBS and its related symptoms during various waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data represented as mean (SD). Values 0-100, with 100 representing peak popularity.

Disclosures:

Sarah Chen indicated no relevant financial relationships.

Jacqueline Chen indicated no relevant financial relationships.

Anthony Infantolino indicated no relevant financial relationships.

Christina Tofani indicated no relevant financial relationships.

Sarah L. Chen, BA¹, Jacqueline L. Chen, MSc¹, Anthony Infantolino, MD², Christina Tofani, MD². E0265 - Public Interest in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Increased in Subsequent Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic, ACG 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Charlotte, NC: American College of Gastroenterology.