BACKGROUND
Premature ejaculation (PE) is one of the most described psychosocial stress and sexual complaints worldwide. Previous investigations have focused predominantly on the prospective identification of cases that meets the researchers' criteria. The genuine demand as regards PE and related issues from patients may thus be neglected.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the online search trend and users’ demand related to PE on a national and regional scale using the dominant major search engine in mainland China.
METHODS
The Baidu Index was queried using the PE related terms for the period 2011.01–2020.12. The search volume for each term was recorded to analyze the search trend and demographic distributions. For user interest, the data of demand graph and trend data were collected and analyzed.
RESULTS
Of the 36 available PE keywords, 4 PE searching topics were identified. The BSI for each PE topics varies from 46.30% to 6.41%. The APC for topic Complaint was 2011-2014, 48.80% (p > .05); 2014-2020, -16.82% (p < .05). The APC for topic Enquiry was 2011-2014, 16.21% (p > .05); 2014-2020, -11.00% (p < .05). For topic Prognosis, the annual APC was 2011-2017, 11.18% (p < .05); 2017-2020, -19.86% (p < .05). For topic Treatment, the annual APC was 2011-2016, 14.04% (p < .05); 2016-2020, -38.83% (p < .05). The age distribution of the population of each PE searching topics enquiries shows that the population aged 20 to 40 years comprised nearly 70% of the total search enquiries. Seconded is 17.95 % in the age group under 19 years. People from the east part of china made over 50% of the total search queries.
CONCLUSIONS
e fluctuating online popularity of PE search is reflecting the real-time population demands. It may help medical professionals better understand population interest, population concerns, regional variations and gender differences on a national wide scale and making disease-specific healthcare policies. The internet search data could be more reliable when the insufficient and lagging registry data are completed.
CLINICALTRIAL
Not applicable