About HINTS

What HINTS Does

The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) routinely collects nationally representative data about Americans’ health- and cancer-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; use of information technology for health-related purposes; and health information-seeking preferences and needs. Most data are made publicly available for use by researchers, health advocates, and program planners.

How HINTS Data Are Used

The HINTS program was created to monitor changes in the rapidly evolving field of health communication, with the goal of informing efforts that may help reduce the burden of cancer. Researchers can use HINTS data to monitor changes in the health communication environment, study the impact of communication on key processes affecting the health of American adults, and refine and develop theories of health communication. Program planners can use the insights generated by HINTS data to create more effective health communication strategies for different populations.

HINTS Sponsors

HINTS was developed by the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch (HCIRB) of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) in response to the National Cancer Institute's Extraordinary Opportunity in Cancer Communications. To learn more about communication and informatics research at NCI, please visit the HCIRB and DCCPS Websites. Some HINTS administrations have been co-sponsored by other federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC).

Using HINTS Items in Your Survey

Are you a researcher interested in conducting a HINTS-like health communication survey in your community or country? If so, you are welcome to use HINTS items from our publicly available survey instruments for your data collection effort. The NCI HINTS program encourages and supports any opportunity to standardize measures and promote data harmonization for health communication research. However, please do not duplicate any NCI HINTS instruments in their entirety as part of your data collection efforts. Additionally, please refrain from using either the HINTS name (in full or in acronym form) or the HINTS logo for projects unaffiliated with NCI. The name “Health Information National Trends Survey”, the acronym “HINTS”, and the HINTS logo are registered trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Additionally, the NCI HINTS management team can provide limited consultation on external data collection efforts related to health communication. If you are interested in discussing your data collection effort with the HINTS management team, please contact us directly at NCIhints@mail.nih.gov.

For additional information about the HINTS program, please use our contact form or email NCIhints@mail.nih.gov.