Internet Search Engine Queries of Common Causes of Blindness and Low Vision in the United States

To characterize Internet search engine patterns of American Internet users for common causes of blindness and low vision. A retrospective cross-sectional study. Retrospective analysis with publicly available Google trends data from January 1, 2004, to January 1, 2020, using Google search engine. Patient population: Random sample of US and worldwide Internet users who searched for information on the topics of cataract, macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and near-sightedness using the Google search engine. Main outcome measures: Percentage of searches related to disease and treatment education for each condition. Cataract searches most commonly pertain to treatment education (72.3%) and disease education (23.6%). Glaucoma, macular degeneration, and near-sightedness searches more commonly pertained to disease education (69.5%, 64.0%, 50.4% respectively) than treatment education (18.4%, 17.9%, 10.7% respectively). Diabetic retinopathy searches related to other diseases (41.5%), followed by disease education (33.5%) and treatment education (8.2%). Mean relative search frequency (RSF) values for queries were 66.7 ± 13.3, 58.6 ± 6.2, 33.3 ± 6.7, 29.2 ± 6.5, and 8.6 ± 1.4 for cataract, glaucoma, near-sightedness, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration, respectively, with all pairwise comparisons yielding statistically significant values (P < .001). RSF was found to be fairly well correlated with North American blindness prevalence by condition (r2 = 0.5898). The search results of American Internet search users yield information on disease basics or treatment education for the disease. The most commonly searched queries for each condition yield different types of information with cataract queries presenting more commonly with treatment information. These results may inform future patient education practices. •Cataract is the most commonly searched major cause of blindness in the United States.•Searches of each condition most commonly relate to disease basics or treatment.•These study results may inform future education practices for providers.