# Infodemiology and hearing: analysis of the search behavior of the Brazilian population

## TL;DR

The study analyzed how Brazilians searched online for information about hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness over a decade, finding increasing interest and correlations between these terms.

## Contribution

This study provides new insights into the infodemiology of hearing-related conditions in Brazil using Google Trends data from 2014 to 2024.

## Key findings

- Significant correlations were found between searches for hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness.
- A growing trend in search volumes was observed for all three conditions over the study period.
- Structural breaks in search behavior were identified for each term, with varying frequencies and timing.

## Abstract

To investigate the online search behavior of the Brazilian population for information related to hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness.

This ecological and infodemiological study analyzed online search behavior in Brazil for the terms “Hearing Loss,” “Dizziness,” and “Tinnitus” from January 2014 to May 2024, using data from Google Trends™. Normalized relative search volumes (VPR) were calculated, and correlations between the terms were analyzed using Spearman's test, trend analysis with the Mann-Kendall test, and structural breaks with a significance level of 5%.

Significant correlations were found between the terms “Dizziness” and “Hearing Loss,” “Tinnitus” and “Hearing Loss,” and “Tinnitus” and “Dizziness.” An increasing trend in VPR was observed for “Hearing Loss,” “Dizziness,” and “Tinnitus.” Structural breaks for each search term occurred in the following periods: Hearing Loss (two breaks): February 2016 and January 2021; Dizziness (five breaks): July 2015, July 2017, February 2019, April 2020, and December 2021; and Tinnitus (five breaks): April 2015, April 2017, March 2018, April 2020, and April 2022.

The search behavior over the past decade reveals a growing interest in information about hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness, with correlated results among the three terms. Sergipe had the highest search volume for “hearing loss,” Maranhão for “dizziness,” and São Paulo for “tinnitus.”

Investigar o comportamento de busca online por informações relacionadas à perda auditiva, zumbido e tontura pela população brasileira.

Estudo ecológico e infodemiológico analisou o comportamento de busca online no Brasil para os termos “Perda Auditiva”, “Tontura” e “Zumbido” entre janeiro de 2014 e maio de 2024, utilizando dados do Google Trends™. Foram calculados os volumes de pesquisa relativo normalizado (VPR) e analisadas as correlações entre os termos usando o teste de Spearman, a tendência com o teste de Mann-Kendall, e quebras estruturais com nível de significância de 5%.

Encontradas correlações significativas entre os termos “Tontura” e “Perda Auditiva”, “Zumbido” e “Perda Auditiva” e “Zumbido” e “Tontura”. Observou-se tendência de crescimento no VPR para “Perda Auditiva”, “Tontura” e “Zumbido”. As quebras estruturais detectadas para cada termo de busca ocorreram nos seguintes períodos: Perda auditiva (duas quebras): fevereiro de 2016 e janeiro de 2021; Tontura (cinco quebras): julho de 2015 e de 2017; fevereiro de 2019; abril de 2020 e dezembro de 2021 e Zumbido (cinco quebras): abril de 2015 e de 2017, março de 2018, abril de 2020 e de 2022.

O comportamento de busca na última década revela um crescente interesse por informações sobre perda auditiva, zumbido e tontura, com resultados correlacionados entre os três termos. Sergipe apresentou o maior volume de buscas por “perda auditiva”, Maranhão por “tontura” e São Paulo por “zumbido”.