Table 1.
Basic characteristics of COVID-19 and relative search volume (RSV) in the first wave and after the first wave.
| Characteristics | Overall (n=1,707,581) | First wave (n=16,693) | After the first wave (n=1,690,888) | P value | |
| COVID-19 characteristics, n (%) | |||||
|
|
Severe cases | 311,562 (18.24) | 4417 (26.54) | 307,145 (18.16) | <.001 |
|
|
Deaths | 17,709 (1.03) | 891 (5.33) | 16,818 (0.99) | <.001 |
| RSV, mean (95% CI) | |||||
|
|
Telehealth (search term “online-shinryou”) | 11.3 (8.0-14.7) | 33.1 (16.2-50.0) | 7.3 (6.7-8.0) | <.001 |
|
|
COVID-19 (search term “corona”) | 30.7 (27.2-34.3) | 52.1 (38.3-65.9) | 26.8 (24.4-29.2) | <.001 |
| Correlation coefficienta for telehealth RSV, r | |||||
|
|
Mean weekly cases | –0.300 | –0.899 | –0.208 | N/Ab |
|
|
Change rate | 0.054 | 0.005 | 0.137 | N/A |
| Correlation coefficient for COVID-19 RSV, r | |||||
|
|
Mean weekly cases | 0.152 | 0.657 | 0.536 | N/A |
|
|
Change rate | 0.428 | 0.679 | 0.516 | N/A |
aChi-square test was applied for comparing two proportions and Mann-Whitney U test was applied for comparing two means. Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient was applied for public interest of telehealth and COVID-19. P value was set at a significant level of .05.
bN/A: not applicable.