Public Health Implications of Google Searches for Sunscreen, Sunburn, Skin Cancer, and Melanoma in the United States.
Am J Health Promot
; 33(4): 611-615, 2019 05.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30428681
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
Google Trends (GT) offers insights into public interests and behaviors and holds potential for guiding public health campaigns. We evaluated trends in US searches for sunscreen, sunburn, skin cancer, and melanoma and their relationships with melanoma outcomes.DESIGN:
Google Trends was queried for US search volumes from 2004 to 2017. Time-matched search term data were correlated with melanoma outcomes data from Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program and United States Cancer Statistics databases (2004-2014 and 2010-2014, respectively).SETTING:
Users of the Google search engine in the United States.PARTICIPANTS:
Google search engine users in the United States. This represents approximately 65% of the population.MEASURES:
Search volumes, melanoma outcomes.ANALYSIS:
Pearson correlations between search term volumes, time, and national melanoma outcomes. Spearman correlations between state-level search data and melanoma outcomes.RESULTS:
The terms "sunscreen," "sunburn," "skin cancer," and "melanoma" were all highly correlated ( P < .001), with sunscreen and sunburn having the greatest correlation ( r = 0.95). Sunscreen/sunburn searches have increased over time, but skin cancer/melanoma searches have decreased ( P < .05). Nationally, sunscreen, sunburn, and skin cancer were significantly correlated with melanoma incidence. At the state level, only sunscreen and melanoma searches were significantly correlated with melanoma incidence.CONCLUSIONS:
We conclude that online skin cancer prevention campaigns should focus on the search terms "sunburn" and "sunscreen," given the decreasing online searches for skin cancer and melanoma. This is reinforced by the finding that sunscreen searches are higher in areas with higher melanoma incidence.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Neoplasias Cutáneas
/
Quemadura Solar
/
Protectores Solares
/
Conducta en la Búsqueda de Información
/
Melanoma
Límite:
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Health Promot
Asunto de la revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos