Correlation Between Interest in COVID-19 Hair Loss and COVID-19 Surges: Analysis of Google Trends

    February 2022
    Joseph Han, Samir Kamat, Aneesh Agarwal, Ross O’Hagan, Connor Tukel, Shayan Owji, Sabrina Ghalili, Yen Luu, Cula Svidzinski, Brian J. Abittan, Jonathan Ungar, Nicholas Gulati
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    TLDR Interest in COVID-19 hair loss increased during COVID-19 surges, especially in higher-income countries.
    The study analyzed Google Trends data to assess public interest in "COVID hair loss" and "Telogen Effluvium" from January 2020 to January 2022, finding a significant increase in search volume over time, particularly during COVID-19 surges. The relative search volume for "COVID hair loss" peaked during the omicron variant surge in January 2022, showing a 14% increase from the initial COVID-19 surge in mid-2020 and an 82% increase from the delta variant surge in mid-2021. A significant correlation (r=0.59, P<.001) was found between weekly search volume and new COVID-19 cases. Interest was higher in higher-income countries, but some lower-income countries like the Philippines and Pakistan also showed significant interest. The findings suggest a perceived link between COVID-19 and hair loss, with dermatologists likely to address this in clinical practice during COVID-19 surges.
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