Shifting Public Interest in Liver Health, Hepatotoxic Medications, and Dietary Supplements in Kazakhstan: A Five-Year Google Trends Infodemiology Study

Background: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a leading cause of acute liver failure worldwide, yet epidemiological data from Central Asia remain scarce. Infodemiology—the study of online health information-seeking behavior—offers a novel approach to population-level health surveillance. Objective: Our aim was to investigate online information-seeking behavior related to DILI, hepatotoxic medications, and dietary supplements among the population of Kazakhstan using Google Trends data over a five-year period. Methods: A quantitative, retrospective, observational infodemiology study was conducted using Google Trends data from Kazakhstan (May 2021–May 2026). A total of 21 search terms were organized into five thematic sets: DILI symptoms, hepatotoxic medications, self-treatment and detoxification, liver-related symptoms, and general medication queries. Sets 1–4 were searched in Russian and Set 5 in Kazakh. Descriptive statistics, the Mann–Kendall trend test, and Spearman’s rank correlation analysis were performed using PAST software version 5. Results: A statistically significant trend was identified for 20 out of 21 search terms (p < 0.05). The majority of terms showed decreasing trends over the study period. In contrast, dietary supplements (BAD) demonstrated the strongest increasing trend (S = +1275, Z = +7.93, p < 0.001). Search interest for the general term “liver” was the highest of all 21 terms (mean RSV 84.30), while specific DILI symptoms such as dark urine (mean 1.28) and skin itching (mean 0.07) showed minimal search activity. Strong positive correlations were found between paracetamol and antibiotic searches (rs = 0.812, p < 0.001), consistent with self-medication patterns. Dietary supplements showed significant negative correlations with all detox-related terms (rs = −0.650, p < 0.001). Conclusions: This is the first infodemiology study on DILI in Central Asia. The significant increase in dietary supplement searches, combined with the low public awareness of specific DILI symptoms, highlights a critical public health concern. These findings underscore the need for enhanced regulation of dietary supplements, targeted public health education, and the integration of digital surveillance tools into pharmacovigilance systems in Kazakhstan.