Googling the health aspects of Gambling: An infodemiological study of worldwide Google search volumes from 2004 to 2021

Abstract

: Despite predictions that gambling prevalence would decrease over time, recent reports suggest an increasing trend that is an emerging but neglected public health problem. This study analyzed public concern regarding gambling as a health topic using aggregated Google searches. Using an infodemiological design, a search query using the keyword “Gambling (Topic)” was done in Google Trends. The region, category filters were set to “Worldwide” and “Health,” with the timeframe as January 2004 to December 2021. The relative search volumes (RSV), monthly growth rate, related queries, and topics were compared and analyzed. Autoregressive integrated mean averaging (ARIMA) was also used to address seasonality, autocorrelations, and predict the RSVs in the following years, and correlation analyses determined relationships between RSVs for gambling in health and leisure categories. Results showed that after an initial decrease, there was a generally increasing trend in searches of gambling as a health topic, with a monthly growth rate of 1.36%. The RSVs for both categories are predicted to increase, with positive correlations that may be stronger in the future. Top and rising queries and topics revolved around gambling disorder-related concepts, treatment, venues, diagnosis, and online gambling, indicating an emerging public concern for the health consequences of gambling. Gambling-related online health information should therefore be updated and accurate, particularly with regard to treatment, diagnosis, and consequences.