Sweetening the deal: An infodemiological study of worldwide interest in semaglutide using Google Trends

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Abstract Background: Off-label use of semaglutide for non-diabetic weight loss (presumably driven by social media) created world-wide supply shortages. We evaluated world-wide semaglutide interest measured by online search behavior to gauge social media and conventional print media reporting’s effect on search interest. Methods: Using Google Trends Extended for Health multiple sampling, we retrieved regional online interest (ROI) for all countries and extracted timelines and top search queries for countries with median ROI≥20 for January 2021–August 2023 using the “semaglutide” topic. We obtained semaglutide media reporting from the ProQuest database. We estimated the effect of media and within-country semaglutide interest on between-country interest with Granger causality analysis. We determined changepoints for trends within each country with joinpoint regression. We determined prominent themes in search queries for each country with Natural Language Processing thematic analysis. Results: Some countries showed increases in semaglutide interest. Granger analysis showed that media coverage could only partially explain interest, and interest in some countries partially preceded interest in others. Joinpoint analysis identified up to four significant within-country changepoints. One episode of the Dr Oz show (TV media event) drove strong peaks in numerous countries. Specific themes in top search queries showed some agreement between countries and country-specific themes. Weight loss was a major theme in most countries. Conclusions: GTEH data provided insights into global search interest in semaglutide and regional variation. Studies focusing on specific countries which include social media data can elucidate specific drivers underlying the explosion in off-label use of semaglutide.

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