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Related Experiment Videos

Googling for suicide in Croatia: A mixed-methods study.

Lana Bojanić1, Josip Razum2, Ivan Gorski3

  • 1Division of Psychology and Mental Health, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

Death Studies
|January 18, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Google search trends can predict suicide rates. Increased searches for prevention terms correlated with fewer suicides, while searches for methods preceded more suicides, highlighting the need for online strategies.

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Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Digital Epidemiology
  • Mental Health Research

Background:

  • Google search trends show potential for predicting public health crises, including suicide.
  • Understanding the relationship between online search behavior and suicide rates is crucial for developing targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the correlation between specific suicide-related search terms and monthly suicide deaths in Croatia from 2014 to 2018.
  • To identify patterns in search trends that may precede changes in suicide incidence.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of monthly suicide deaths in Croatia (2014-2018).
  • Correlation analysis between search volume for suicide-related keywords (e.g., "samoubojstvo", "suicid", "kako se ubiti") and monthly suicide data.
  • Content analysis of webpages returned by suicide-related search queries.

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Main Results:

  • An increase in searches for "samoubojstvo" and "suicid" (suicide) preceded a decrease in suicide deaths.
  • An increase in searches for "kako se ubiti" (how to kill yourself) preceded an increase in suicide deaths.
  • Webpages for suicide-related searches predominantly contained factual information about suicide.

Conclusions:

  • Online search trends, particularly for suicide prevention terms, can serve as a leading indicator for suicide rates.
  • The findings underscore the critical need for a comprehensive online suicide prevention strategy informed by search data.
  • Targeted digital interventions based on search trends could potentially mitigate suicide incidence.