Correlation between oral health morbidity and Google search trends in Peru, 2021-2022

Aquino-Canchari C.R.; Avila-Herrera S.R.; Manrique-Chávez J.E. · Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana (2025) · DOI: 10.25176/rfmh.v25i1.6775

Resumen

Introduction: Diseases of the oral cavity are increasingly affecting the global population, particularly in developing countries such as Peru. Objective: To determine the correlation between oral health morbidity and Google search activity in Peru during 2021–2022. Methods: Ecological study. Data on oral health morbidity were obtained from the official website of the National Unified Repository of Health Information (REUNIS, by its Spanish acronym), which compiles records of patients treated at healthcare facilities under the Ministry of Health. Subsequently, Google Trends was used to assess search volumes related to major oral diseases queried through Google in Peru. The Spearman correlation coefficient was applied to evaluate the relationship between quantitative variables, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: A very low positive correlation without statistical significance was found between the relative search volume (RSV) for dental wear, tooth loss, and dental malocclusion and their respective number of cases (Spearman's rho = 0.176, p = 0.412; rho = 0.241, p = 0.257; rho = 0.142, p = 0.507, respectively). In contrast, the RSV for dental caries showed a strong positive correlation with statistical significance (rho = 0.751, p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study found that dental caries was the only term whose relative search volume had a strong and statistically significant correlation with the number of related clinical consultations.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia