[The online representation of diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease and comparison with other public health diseases].

Introduction

Chronic kidney disease is a highly prevalent disease associated with high cardiovascular risk and mortality. Chronic kidney disease is often underdiagnosed in Hungary despite its public health importance, which may also be due to the lack of disease awareness.

Objective

We proposed to assess in Hungary the amount of information available to Internet users (≥18 years), and also the distribution of their internet information needs related to chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and heart failure between May 2022 and May 2023. Method: Using primary and secondary data collection, and webanalytical methods, we analyzed the total and patient-number-proportional extent of internet communication (i.e., relevant internet contents, searches, new contents, and social media reactions), the intensity and distribution of the information needs in the case of chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and heart failure by 5 categories related to consecutive disease stages (general, symptom, diagnosis, therapy, complication). The following data sources were used: Google Search Console, Google Search Engine Result Page, Similarweb.com, Google News, BuzzSumo.com, Facebook, YouTube.

Results

The total amount of the Internet content was markedly higher for diabetes (n = 5,180,000) and hypertension (n = 5,410,000) than for chronic kidney disease (n = 198,000) and heart failure (n = 314,000). Diabetes showed the most intensive communication based on all indicators examined (e.g., average number of searches per month, total: n = 61,119; relative to the patient population: n = 71,822). In the case of chronic kidney disease, the volume of Internet communication was the lowest based on all parameters examined (e.g., average number of searches per month, total: n = 6,843; relative to the patient population: n = 46). For diabetes, the information search was mostly focused on symptoms (24%) and diagnosis (35%), while the demand for therapy (13%) and complications (18%) was low. For hypertension, the topic of therapy was in high demand (37%), but that of complications (1%) was very low. For heart failure, general (37%) and symptoms-related (25%) searches were in the forefront. For chronic kidney disease, the interest was mainly focused on the diagnosis (27%) and complications (24%), and searches for impaired/severely declined renal function dominated, and did not show distribution typical of early detection. The visits of the professional society’s websites were low for both diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Conclusion

Chronic kidney disease has low, diabetes has high prestige. Chronic kidney disease is underrepresented on the Internet, and users’ lack of information may play a role in its underestimation and underdiagnosis. Improved social and professional awareness is warranted to increase the quality of kidney patient care. Orv Hetil. 2024; 165(13): 510–518.