Trends and seasonality of information searches, carried out through Google, on metabolic syndrome and occupational health: infodemiological study

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to analyse and relate the population interest through information search trends, on Metabolic Syndrome (MS) with the Occupational Health (OH). Method: Ecological and correlational study of the Relative Search Volume (RSV) obtained from Google Trends query, segmented into 3 searched periods concerning antiquity; date of query: September 30, 2023. Results: The lowest mean of the RSV was for the MS Topic (2.23 ± 0.87), albeit there was a positive correlation in the RSV amid MS and OH (R = 0.56; p < 0.05). Association (p < 0.05) was observed between the 3 periods under study, except for the Hypertension and Central Obesity topics, but significantly lower in the current period for the MS and OH Topics. Moderate seasonality was found in the MS topic (KPSS = 0.14; p > 0.05), and significant differences were demonstrated in the information search between developed and undeveloped countries (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Through their information searches, the whole population showed to have a dearth of knowledge of MS than of its component diseases. A relationship was found between the information searches carried out on MS and OH. The study of information search trends may provide useful information on the population’s interest in the disease data, as well as would gradually allow the analysis of differences in popularity, or interest even between different countries.