HINTS meaning in Medical ?

The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) is a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of American adults sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. HINTS provides publicly available data on American adults' knowledge of, attitudes toward, and behaviors related to cancer prevention, control and communication. Researchers use the data to identify trends in health communication, including how people find cancer information, which sources they use, their feelings about the search process, and how they perceive cancer overall.

For example, HINTS data users have examined how adults 18 years and older use different communication channels (e.g., the Internet) to obtain vital health information for themselves and their loved ones. They've also analyzed the experiences people have when they search for cancer information. Program planners can use the data to overcome barriers to health-information access and to obtain data to help them create more effective communication strategies. Social scientists can use the data to refine theories of health communication and to recommend methods to reduce the burden of cancer.

As a national-level surveillance vehicle for cancer and health communication, HINTS can make valuable contributions to the larger cyberinfrastructure devoted to health and may potentially be leveraged with other national-level surveys (e.g., The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance Survey and National Health Interview Survey) to gauge the effects of policy changes on population health.