Rising Public Interest of Hookah and E-cigarettes after Tobacco Cessation Law in India: A Google Trend Analysis

Hookah and E-cigarettes after Tobacco Cessation Law

Abstract

Introduction: Internet search query data from Google Trends (GT) have been used to assess public interest after inacting a policy. Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA),2003 may change the  interest towards  choice of tobacco products. In India, limited data is available on the interest of tobacco products in lieu to COTPA ,2003.Objective: To assess  the impact of  implementation of COTPA on public interests of tobacco products in India using Google trends from 2004 to 2018. Methodology: Using GT, monthly aggregated Google search volume in  India was collected in terms of relative search volume (RSV) ranging from 0 to 100. For analysis, data  was analysed in two phases 2004 to 2011 and 2011 to 2018. The RSV data was collected on tobacco products (cigarette, beedi, hookah, electronic cigarette and gutka). The trends were analysed using visual inspection. and forecast tool. Results: In India, the trend  from 2004 to 2011  showed public interest was dominated by cigarettes. After the pictorial warning implementation in 2011 the trend was changed. In 2011 to 2018, showed an increasing trend in Hookah and E cigarettes. Hookah was dominated in Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana. Electronic cigarette was majorly searched  in Andaman and Nicobar island, Meghalaya and Puducherry.  Conclusion: There has been a  changing trend of  public interest for  tobacco products, with rise in hookah  and E-cigarette after COTPA. The rising  trends may help the researchers, lawmakers and health policy officials to go into further research to improve policy in this area.