SNIP:

Research Letter
August 24, 2020
Internet Searches for Acute Anxiety During the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic
John W. Ayers, PhD, MA1; Eric C. Leas, PhD, MPH2; Derek C. Johnson, PhD, MPH1; et alAdam Poliak, MS3; Benjamin M. Althouse, PhD, ScM4; Mark Dredze, PhD3; Alicia L. Nobles, PhD, MS1

JAMA Intern Med. Published online August 24, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.3305
There is widespread concern that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may harm population mental health, chiefly owing to anxiety about the disease and its societal fallout.1 But traditional population mental health surveillance (eg, telephone surveys, medical records) is time consuming, expensive, and may miss persons who do not participate or seek care. To evaluate the association of COVID-19 with anxiety on a population basis, we examined internet searches2 indicative of acute anxiety during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

source: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=082420

Thanks DeeQ (not sarcastic)

"we examined internet searches2 indicative of acute anxiety during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic."

So they looked at what people look for on the internet to determine the stress levels?

Hum let us see, Prior to knowledge of Covid-19 no one looked up Covid-19, as soon as Covid-19 was known people looked it up. Seem scientific. Well at least it shows cause and effect.

"But traditional population mental health surveillance (eg, telephone surveys, medical records) is time consuming, expensive, and may miss persons who do not participate or seek care."

I would not wish to waste time reviewing medical records to determine if someone has a medical issue. We should all rely on Faceplant to determine our healthcare needs,.

This could revolutionize health care. No longer wait time an co-pays just review your browser history to find out if you are having a heart attack.

I don't think you read the research article.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Dredze has received consulting fees from Directing Medicine and Good Analytics, companies that advise on the use of digital data for public health surveillance. He has also received payments from Sickweather, who use social media for infectious disease monitoring, and Bloomberg LP. Dr Ayers owns equity positions in Directing Medicine, Health Watcher, and Good Analytics, companies that advise on the use of digital data for public health surveillance. No other disclosures are reported.

need any more info?