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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Nephrol.
Sec. Glomerular disease
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneph.2025.1519481

Global and National Public Awareness and Interest in Glomerular Diseases from 2004 to 2024

Provisionally accepted
Suryanarayanan Balakrishnan Suryanarayanan Balakrishnan Charat Thongprayoon Charat Thongprayoon Iasmina Craici Iasmina Craici Wisit Cheungpasitporn Wisit Cheungpasitporn Jing Miao Jing Miao *
  • Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Michigan, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Glomerular diseases significantly impact global health. This study investigated public interest in five common glomerular diseases. Methods: Google Trends™ were used to analyze search activity from January 2004 to December 2024 for IgA nephropathy (IgAN), membranous glomerulonephritis (MN), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), lupus nephritis (LN), and diabetic nephropathy (DN). Data were retrieved both globally and in English-speaking countries, including the United States. Monthly and yearly relative search activity were assessed and compared. Results: Globally, IgAN had the highest average relative search activity, followed by DN, FSGS, LN, and MN. Both IgAN and FSGS exhibited declining trends, while LN showed an upward pattern. MN and DN experienced a modest decline before 2016, preceded by a slight increase. Among English-speaking countries, search interest was predominantly concentrated in five countries, primarily including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, with the United States consistently ranking as the leading country. For IgAN, LN, and MN, the trends observed in the United States appeared to align with global data. In contrast, search interest for FSGS exceeded global levels, while interest in DN was slightly lower than global activity. In the United States, IgAN, FSGS, and LN were most prominent in North Dakota, Massachusetts, and Delaware, respectively, while DN and MN saw peak activity in West Virginia. Conclusion: Public engagement with glomerular diseases has not uniformly grown, at least in English-speaking countries, emphasizing the need for enhanced awareness efforts. Future analysis should prioritize search terms in the predominant language of each country.

    Keywords: IgA nephropathy, Membranous glomerulonephritis, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, Lupus Nephritis, diabetic nephropathy, public awareness

    Received: 30 Oct 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Balakrishnan, Thongprayoon, Craici, Cheungpasitporn and Miao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jing Miao, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, 55905, Michigan, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.