Table 2

Google Searches in the 7 days prior to an emergency department visit

Query subjectExample search# of participants where search occurred at least once. n=86Frequency of query
n=3978
n (%)n (%)
Entertainment‘Bon iver concert’ ‘xbox one’58 (67)726 (18)
Directions to non-clinical locationsCurrent location ->non-clinical location55 (64)449 (11)
Retail (online shopping, physical location of stores)‘Amazon’ ‘Walmart’47 (55)279 (7)
Information about hospital/care‘Penn Medicine ER’ ‘medical tower philly’46 (53)240 (6)
Symptoms and disease info‘What is diabetes’ ‘cramping 12 weeks agony’48 (56)223 (6)
Unrelated/unintelligible‘asj’ ‘344’42 (49)198 (5)
Social media‘Facebook’39 (45)167 (4)
Food/drink‘How long to cook pizza’44 (51)153 (4)
Financial questions‘How to reach a person at the irs’35 (41)116 (3)
Treatment and disease management‘cure food poisoning’ ‘nosebleed treatment’20 (23)94 (2)
Pornographic materials‘Pornhub’ ‘xvideos’16 (19)78 (2)
Legal questions‘What are the traffic laws if there is no stop sign’18 (21)77 (2)
Drug use‘How many mgs of Advil to take’ ‘Vicoden vs percocet ’20 (23)75 (2)
Diet/exercise‘Is it possible to lose 80lbs in a year’ ‘crossfit gym’11 (13)41 (1)
Medical accessories‘Syringe cvs’ ‘haemorrhoid pillows’11 (13)19 (0)
Other‘Why wont hot water heater stay lit’80 (93)1043 (31)