Population Interest in Information on Obesity, Nutrition, and Occupational Health and Its Relationship with the Prevalence of Obesity: An Infodemiological Study

Public interest in drug-related problems reflected in information search trends: an infodemiological study

BACKGROUND

The analysis of how people search and "navigate" the internet to obtain health-related information and how they communicate and share this information can provide valuable knowledge about the disease patterns behaviour and health habits of populations.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the population's interest in drug-related problems through information search trends.

METHOD

A descriptive ecological correlational study, based on obtaining Google Trends data.

VARIABLES STUDIED

relative search volume (RSV), evolution over time, milestones and seasonality.

RESULTS

The most searched topic was drug overdose, with mean RSV of 56.25 ± 0.65. The highest increase occurred in the contraindication topic (R2 = 0.87, p < 0.001). The main milestone was observed in the drug overdose topic in July 2018 (RSV = 100). A very close relationship was found between adverse drug reaction and contraindication (R = 0.89, p < 0.001). Slight seasonality was noted in the adverse drug reaction (augmented Dickey-Fuller test [ADF] = -1.96), contraindication (ADF = -2.66) and drug interaction (ADF = -1.67) topics, but did not show an epidemiological trend.

CONCLUSIONS

The greatest public interest was found in the drug overdose and contraindication topics, which showed a stronger upward trend, although the seasonality study did not show any very notable data or demonstrate epidemiological information search behaviour. The main milestone observed was due to media factors related to the consumption of narcotics. There was a clear difference in English-speaking countries in the use of the drug overdose topic. A correlation between the adverse drug reaction and contraindication topics was confirmed.

Factors Influencing the Degree of Employee Involvement in Preventive Nutrition and Physical Activity Web-Based Programs in Medium and Small Enterprises

This cross-sectional study was part of a comprehensive workplace health promotion program (WHPP) implemented in the work environment of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Western Slovenia, which included web-based educational campaigns aimed at promoting positive lifestyle changes among workers, including healthy eating habits and physical activity. As part of this program, which included campaigns in the areas of stress management, ergonomics, sleep hygiene, communication, work climate, and absenteeism, we developed and examined the engagement frequency in web-based content on healthy eating and physical activity for the companies included in the WHPP. This part of the project lasted from 2020 to 2022. Prior to the educational campaign, participants voluntarily completed a screening questionnaire. We analyzed the patterns of 370 workers in terms of their job classification (predominantly sedentary, predominantly standing, or predominantly physical), body mass index (BMI), gender, age, and selected indicators of diet and physical activity. Of the 88 companies participating in the WHPP, 26 took part in our web-based educational campaigns on nutrition and physical activity. Through an empirical analysis using descriptive and inferential statistics and a linear regression, we found that, on average, the engagement frequency (i.e., proportion of educational personal e-mails read) was highest among men with sedentary work, with older employees participating more actively than expected. Moreover, workers with good dietary habits and a favorable BMI proved to be the most avid readers of the web-based campaigns. Despite the overall low participant engagement frequency, it is clear that web-based educational campaigns are more appealing to workers with sedentary jobs and good dietary habits. This study provides valuable information on the potential effectiveness of appropriate workplace health promotion campaigns for SMEs and public health practices.