Objective:

To determine whether celebrity stroke disclosures are associated with increased public engagement and information seeking. 

Background:

Celebrity disclosures of illness have been previously linked to increased public awareness, but these effects have not been categorized for stroke.

Design/Methods:

This observational study analyzed available Google Trends (GT) and Wikipedia data. 24 celebrities with a clear, publicized stroke diagnosis were included in the GT analysis, while 14 of those celebrities were included in the Wikipedia analysis. The primary outcomes were the changes in average daily relative search volume (RSV) on GT and page views on Wikipedia, for both “stroke” and each celebrity’s name, after the celebrity’s disclosure date.

Results:

Following each celebrity’s disclosure event, there was an average RSV increase of 581% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 316 to 846) in celebrity name queries on GT over 3 weeks and a 279% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 121 to 436) increase over 3 months. There was a 4.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.4 to 11) increase in stroke queries on GT over 3 weeks and a 4.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.05 to 9.8) increase over 3 months. There was a 2046% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -154 to 4248) increase in celebrity name Wikipedia page views over 3 weeks and a 584% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -3 to 1171) increase over 3 months. There was a 9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -18 to 37) increase in “Stroke” page queries on Wikipedia over 3 weeks and a 0.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -11 to 10) decrease over 3 months.

Conclusions:

Celebrity stroke disclosures corresponded to significant transient increases in public interest. A third of celebrities included were younger than the average first time stroke age. Public health outreach efforts can be optimized during these events of heightened public attention.