Special Week on Epidemiology and Health Services 2024
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- Correlations between internet searches for hookah and the prevalence of use among young people in Brazil.
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- Hospitalization costs for diabetes increased in Brazil between 2011 and 2019.
Taís Freire Galvão, associate editor of RESS, State University of Campinas, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
The study “What does Google Trends have to say about the proportion of hookah users in the Brazilian population?” , published in Epidemiology and Health Services: SUS Journal , investigated the relationship between internet searches and hookah use among young people in Brazil. Using the Google Trends tool, which reveals the variation in internet users’ interest in terms searched on Google , the relative volume of searches in each Brazilian state and its correlation with the prevalence of hookah use by adolescents and young people was evaluated.
These prevalence rates were extracted from the National School Health Survey (PeNSE) and the National Health Survey (PNS). The study, conducted by researchers from the Prevention and Surveillance Coordination of the National Cancer Institute (INCA), analyzed the frequencies of hookah use in life and in the last 30 days according to PeNSE, and current use according to PNS. To allow comparability and use the most up-to-date national information on hookah use, all data refer to the year 2019. The authors calculated the correlation between the relative volume of Google searches for hookah and the prevalence of hookah use from PeNSE and PNS using Spearman ‘s correlation (r).
Image: National Cancer Institute (INCA) .
A strong correlation was observed between Google searches for hookah and lifetime use (r = 0.74) and use in the past month (r = 0.80), and a moderate correlation with current use (r = 0.51). The result was consistent across all Brazilian states and indicates the potential of the Google Trends tool to assist in monitoring health risk exposures, such as smoking among adolescents.
Monitoring the tobacco epidemic in Brazil is done through periodic official surveys that help to develop prevention and control policies. Tracking internet searches has the potential to contribute to the surveillance of important public health risk factors.
LIMA, FLT, MARTINS, LFL and SZKLO, AS. What does Google Trends have to say about the proportion of hookah users in the Brazilian population? Epidemiol. Serv. Saúde. [online]. 2023, vol. 32, no. 4, e2023708 [viewed 11 April 2024]. https://doi.org/10.1590/S2237-96222023000400004.pt . Available from: https://www.scielo.br/j/ress/a/HQtbfxg3fWcL89yzQZ9j3hm/