US National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS)

Abstract

Abstract HINTS (the US National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey) is a cross‐sectional, nationally representative survey of the US noninstitutionalized adult population (18 and older) that collects data on the public's need for, access to, and use of health‐related information and health‐related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. HINTS was first fielded in 2002–2003, and at the time of this publication, this general population survey has been administered 14 times over 17 years, with the most recent iterations including annual data collection cycles. HINTS data can be used to derive population prevalence estimates, conduct inferential statistics, and to track trends over time using aggregated data to examine health communication and technology‐related phenomena related to cancer prevention and control. The purpose of this entry is to provide an overview of HINTS and its content, to provide details on the data collection methods used for each iteration of the survey, and to describe public resources that are available for analyzing HINTS data.