Spatiotemporal evolution of online interest in assisted reproductive technology: a two-decade global analysis through google trends

Abstract

Background: Online interest could serve as critical sentinel indicators for monitoring assisted reproductive technology (ART) demands, detecting regions with access inequities, and identifying shortcomings in policy frameworks; however, global online interest of ART has not been assessed. The study aims to investigate the spatiotemporal evolution of online interest in ART globally.

Methods: The study follows retrospective observational design. Data were derived from Google Trends and Relative Search Volume (RSV) data across 230 countries and regions were collected. After quality control, data from 59, 76, 69, and 61 countries and regions were included for different search terms ("Assisted reproductive technology," "In vitro fertilization," "Intracytoplasmic sperm injection," and "Preimplantation genetic diagnosis," respectively). Weekly percentage changes (WPCs) and annual percentage changes (APCs) were used to quantify the temporal variations in online interest.

Results: Globally, public online interest in ART demonstrated a distinct seasonal fluctuation, peaking during months 3-5 and 9-11, while declining in months 6-8 and 12 - 2. The global online interest showed a significant downward trend (APC = -11.22%, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: -18.44 to -8.61) from 2004 to 2011, followed by a gradual increase from 2011 to 2016 (APC = 1.76%, 95% CI: -7.64 to 11.99). Interest then rapidly increased from 2016 to 2019 (APC = 27.24%, 95% CI: 12.48 to 35.20), before continuing to decline after 2020 (APC = -6.54%, 95% CI: -12.52 to -3.05) with predictions indicating further decreases by 2030. Overall, Europe exhibited relatively higher online interest, while Africa and Oceania showed lower levels. In Europe, France (RSV = 76), Italy (RSV = 66), and Spain (RSV = 32) had notable interest in ART. Whereas, in Oceania and Africa, Australia (RSV = 8), New Zealand (RSV = 6), Tunisia (RSV = 16), Algeria (RSV = 16), and Nigeria (RSV = 10) showed lower levels of interest. Israel, Réunion (France), and France ranked as the top three countries or regions with the highest online interest in ART worldwide.

Conclusions: Global online interest in ART shows significant variation across countries and regions, with a decline after 2020. To address these trends, ART resources and services should be allocated effectively based on seasonal and regional demand. Government action is needed to raise social awareness and improve the accessibility and utilization of ART.

Keywords: Assisted reproductive technology; Google trends; Infodemiology; RSV; Spatiotemporal analysis.

Fig. 1

Joinpoint regression analysis indicating overall trends in assisted reproductive technology from 2004 to 2023 worldwide

Fig. 2

Joinpoint regression analysis of RSV trends in “assisted reproductive technology”, “in vitro fertilization”, “preimplantation genetic diagnosis” and “intracytoplasmic sperm injection” in US/UK/the world from 2004 to 2024

Fig. 3

Global distribution of online interest of different assisted reproductive technologies from 2004 to 2024. A ART; B, IVF; C ICSI; D PGD. Regions exhibiting higher RSV depicted in darker colors, and those with lower RSV shown in lighter colors. Grey areas indicate regions with insufficient data for inclusion in the statistics

Fig. 4

Predicting global online interest trends in ART by 2030. A ART; B, IVF; C ICSI; D PGD. The red line represents the raw data and the blue line represents the predicted data. Grey area represents 95% confidence interval