Google trends as a tool for evaluating public interest in total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty
Background & aims: There are approximately one 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 orthopaedic surgeons and healthcare 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 was compiled for 10 search terms related to TKA and 10 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: Google Trends may provide a high utility as a convenient and informative data set for orthopaedic surgeons to analyze public interest in TKA and THA procedures. The data provided by GT has 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.
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