Lupus (2019) 0, 1–6 journals.sagepub.com/home/lup PAPER Global public interest in systemic lupus erythematosus: an investigation based on internet search data GC Wu 1 , F Cao 2 , HH Shen 2 , LQ Hu 1 , Y Hu 1 and NB Sam 3,4 1 School of Nursing, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China; 2 Department of Clinical Medicine, The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China; 3 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China; and 4 Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, Anhui, China Objective: This study aims at investigating the global public interest in seeking information about systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using Google Trends (GT). Methods: An elec- tronic search was performed using GT with the search term lupus as well as the option of disease from January 2004 to December 2018. Cosinor analysis was applied to detect the seasonality of SLE-related relative search volume (RSV). In addition, analysis on SLE-related topics including ‘‘hot topics’’ and ‘‘top rising topics’’ was also conducted. Results: Overall, SLE-related RSV showed a decreasing trend from January 2004 to December 2013 and then demonstrated a slowly increasing trend from January 2014 to December 2018. Cosinor test showed no significant seasonal variation in SLE-related RSV (p > .025). RSV peaked in May and reached the trough in November. The top seven rising topics were Selena Gomez, Sjo¨ gren syndrome, autoimmunity, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatology, antinuclear antibody and autoimmune disease. Conclusion: The results from GT analysis showed slowly increasing internet searches for SLE in recent years. This trend was followed by a peak of RSV in May and reached its lowest level in November. However, globally, the results did not reveal a significant seasonal variation in GT for SLE. Additionally, the top fast-growing topics regarding SLE may be valuable for doctors and nurses to provide timely education of the disease to patients, as well as promote the development of public health. Lupus (2019) 0, 1–6. Key words: Global public interest; Google Trends; Systemic lupus erythematosus Introduction Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease with diverse presentations (such as rash, fever, arthritis, fatigue, serositis, and central nervous system disorders) and has an unclear etiology; genetic factors, environmental factors and immune deregulation have been linked to SLE pathogenesis. 1,2 SLE occurs more often in women than in men, with a reported 3 female-to-male ratio of 9:1. Recent advances in medical care have significantly extended life expect- ancy in SLE patients. As an incurable chronic disease, SLE-related physical, psychological, and social burdens result in lower life quality. 4 In addition to consulting medical staff, patients suf- fering from SLE may refer to search engines (e.g. Google, Wikipedia) to look for disease-related terms, as well as its possible causes, symptoms and treatment. 5 In recent years, internet data have integrated into health informatics research and became powerful usage tools in human behavior investigation. Google Trends (GT) is the most popular tool for examining online behavior because it provides infor- mation regarding trends and changes in online inter- est at certain times during a particular period. 6,7 GT-generated data have proven to be useful in ana- lyzing human behavior on health-related topics, as well as many autoimmune diseases, including mul- tiple sclerosis, 8 vasculitis, 9 psoriasis, 10 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 11 and SLE. 5,12,13 The use of GT in investigating health-related information may pro- vide new clues for health policy makers by estimat- ing health-related needs and behaviors. 5 Correspondence to: Guo-Cui Wu, Anhui Medical University, School of Nursing, 15 Feicui Rd, Hefei, Anhui 230032, China. Email: gcwu82@126.com Received 21 June 2019; accepted 4 September 2019 G.C.W. and F.C. contributed equally to this work and should be con- sidered cofirst authors. ! The Author(s), 2019. Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions 10.1177/0961203319878502