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. 2021 Jul 16;7(4):456-466.
eCollection 2021 Aug 26.

Google trends as a tool for evaluating public interest in total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty

Samuel A Cohen  1 , Landon E Cohen  2 , Jonathan D Tijerina  3 , Gabriel Bouz  4 , Rachel Lefebvre  4 , Milan Stevanovic  4 , Nathanael D Heckmann  4
Affiliations

Google trends as a tool for evaluating public interest in total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty

Samuel A Cohen et al. J Clin Transl Res. .

Abstract

Background and aims: There are approximately 1 million total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA) procedures performed annually in the United States. With this number projected to increase, it is vital for orthopedic surgeons and health-care systems to properly anticipate healthcare utilization related to TKA and THA. Google Trends (GT) is a free, open source tool that provides customizable analysis of search terms entered into the Google search engine. We aim to explore the relationship between public interest in TKA and THA as determined by GT data and volume of TKA and THA procedures.

Methods: GT data were compiled for ten search terms related to TKA and ten search terms related to THA from January 2009 to December 2017. Annual case volumes for TKA/THA procedures were obtained from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample from 2009 to 2017. Trend analysis was performed using univariate linear regression of GT data and TKA/THA case volumes.

Results: There was a statistically significant positive correlation between GT data and procedure volume for 14 of the 20 search terms studied. Seven TKA-related search terms with a positive correlation to procedure volumes include "total knee replacement," "knee replacement," "knee osteoarthritis," "knee ache," "knee swelling," "knee stiffness," and "chronic knee pain." Seven THA-related search terms with a positive correlation to procedure volumes include "hip arthroplasty," "total hip replacement," "hip replacement," "hip osteoarthritis," "hip ache," "hip swelling," and "chronic hip pain."

Conclusion: GT may provide a high utility as a convenient and informative data set for orthopedic surgeons to analyze public interest in TKA and THA procedures. The data provided by GT have the potential to provide real-time, actionable information that may help surgeons and health systems to characterize public interest in TKA and THA and to best identify and address patient needs.

Relevance for patients: The GT tool can be used to measure public interest in TKA/THA, which can inform physician expectations for the patient encounter and lead to the creation of decision aids that better inform the public about the risks and benefits of TKA/THA.

Keywords: Google; Google trends; hip arthroplasty; knee arthroplasty; public interest.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1A
Figure 1A. Temporal trends in public interest in total knee arthroplasty procedure search terms. Trends in the average monthly search volumes for total knee arthroplasty procedure search terms in the US from January 2009 to December 2017. Level of interest is expressed on a scale of 0% to 100%, with 100% interest reflecting the month with the highest search volume. (Blue = “knee replacement”; Red = “total knee replacement” [Data source: Google Trends (www.google.com/trends)]).
Figure 1B
Figure 1B. Temporal trends in public interest in total knee arthroplasty symptom search terms. Trends in the average monthly search volumes for total knee arthroplasty symptom search terms in the US from January 2009 to December 2017. Level of interest is expressed on a scale of 0% to 100%, with 100% interest reflecting the month with the highest search volume. (Blue = “knee osteoarthritis”; Red = “knee ache”; Yellow = “knee swelling”; Green = “knee stiffness”; Purple = “chronic knee pain”) [Data source: Google Trends (www.google.com/trends)]).
Figure 1C
Figure 1C. Temporal trends in public interest in total hip arthroplasty procedure search terms. Trends in the average monthly search volumes for total hip arthroplasty procedure search terms in the US from January 2009 to December 2017. Level of interest is expressed on a scale of 0% to 100%, with 100% interest reflecting the month with the highest search volume. (Blue = “hip arthroplasty”; Red = “total hip replacement”; Yellow = “hip replacement” [Data source: Google Trends (www.google.com/trends)]).
Figure 1D
Figure 1D. Temporal trends in public interest in total hip arthroplasty symptom search terms. Trends in the average monthly search volumes for total hip arthroplasty symptom search terms in the US from January 2009 to December 2017. Level of interest is expressed on a scale of 0% to 100%, with 100% interest reflecting the month with the highest search volume. (Blue = “hip osteoarthritis”; Red = “hip ache”; Yellow = “hip swelling”; Green = “chronic hip pain”) [Data source: Google Trends (www.google.com/trends)]).
Figure 2A
Figure 2A. Monthly interest in total knee arthroplasty procedure search terms. Peak public interest in total knee arthroplasty procedure search terms was in the months of October, February, and June. Least public interest in total knee arthroplasty procedure search terms was in the months of January, December, and August.
Figure 2B
Figure 2B. Monthly interest in total knee arthroplasty symptom search terms. Peak public interest in total knee arthroplasty symptom search terms was in the months of June, July, and August. Least public interest in total knee arthroplasty symptom search terms was in the months of February, December, and January.
Figure 2C
Figure 2C. Monthly interest in total hip arthroplasty procedure search terms. Peak public interest in total hip arthroplasty procedure search terms was in the months of October, April, and November. Least public interest in total hip arthroplasty procedure search terms was in the months of December, January, and August.
Figure 2D
Figure 2D. Monthly interest in total hip arthroplasty symptom search terms. Peak public interest in total hip arthroplasty symptom search terms was in the months of October, November, and July. Least public interest in total hip arthroplasty symptom search terms was in the months of January, June, and September.
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