Patients seeking information about colonoscopy – lessons learned from Google

Introduction
Every year in the USA over 14 million colonoscopies are performed. It requires high-quality examinations as well as a relevant information strategy. Colonoscopy compliance is not satisfactory, which to some extent might be related to patients’ attitudes towards colonoscopy, which are based on information and emotions.

Aim
In the current study we addressed the questions of what kind of information people seek and get when they search the Internet for “colonoscopy”.

Material and methods
Using the Google Trends web facility we analysed search results of “colonoscopy”, related searches, and annual and weekly search trends. Fields of interest analysis was performed based on the related searches.

Results
Patients are generally offered quality data on the first result page of a Google search biased only by Wikipedia scoring first on the result list. The number of “colonoscopy” searches is stable over the week with a significant decrease on weekends, and stable over the year with significant decrease around Thanksgiving day and in the Christmas/New Year’s Eve Period. The most common field of search is colonoscopy preparation, thus underlining the importance of this part of colonoscopy.

Conclusions
Internet search provides abundant information on colonoscopy. In general, this information is accessible, preferred by patients, and of good quality. This should be kept in mind by healthcare providers while educating patients about colonoscopy.