title: A Google-based approach for monitoring suicide risk.
abstract: People seeking information and news regarding suicide are likely to use the Internet. However, evidence of the relationship between suicide-related search volumes and national suicide-rates in different countries can be strikingly different. We aimed to investigate the relationship between suicide-rates and Google suicide-related search volumes in the Italian population (2008-2012) using the Italian mortality database that provided monthly national data concerning suicides (2008-2012). Moreover, this study aimed to identify future trends of national suicide rates on the basis of the results we obtained concerning the period 2013-14. Google Trends provided data of online monthly search-volumes of the term "suicide", "commit suicide" and "how to commit suicide" in Google Search and Google News (2008-2014). Google Search volumes for the term "suicide" lags suicide by three months (ρ=0.482, p-value<0.001), whereas no correlation was found between search volumes for "commit suicide" and "how to commit suicide" and national suicide rates. Google News search volumes for the three terms resulted in white noise. Apparently, online searches for suicide-related terms in Italy are more likely to be linked to factors other than suicidiality such as personal interest and suicide bereavement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: paola.solano@alice.it.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Solano
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Morena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ustulin
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Section of Legal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pizzorno
authors.affiliation: Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion (CNESPS), National Institute of Health (ISS), Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vichi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Function, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pompili
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: gianluca.serafini@unige.it.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Serafini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amore
mesh_terms: D001601:Bereavement; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007558:Italy; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000639:trends; D000092864:Suicide Prevention
keywords: Google; Online search-volumes; Suicidal behaviour; Suicide prevention; Suicide risk