Citation

Ma-Kellams C, Or F, Baek JH, Kawachi I. Clinical Psychological Science 2016; 4(3): 480-484.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Association for Psychological Science, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/2167702615593475

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Google search data have become an increasingly relied-on source of health information with a dual function as both a facilitative and a preventative resource. We tested the power of Google to predict suicide by comparing searches for explicitly suicidal terms with conventional measures of self-reported suicide risk in estimating completed suicides. In addition, we examined the extent to which discrepancies between Google-based and self-report-based estimates of suicide risk and completed suicide were asymmetrical across social-group lines. Relative to traditional self-reported measures of suicide risk, Google search data better estimated completed suicides. Furthermore, misestimation of suicidal risk was asymmetrical for both measures: Greater misestimation was likely in states with higher percentages of racial minorities and lower levels of socioeconomic status. Google search data can inform suicide-prevention efforts at the state level and suicide surveillance aimed at specific demographic groups. © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions.

Language: en

Keywords

Internet; suicide; big data; surveillance