Googling Aesthetic Plastic Surgery for Patient Insights into the Latest Trends

• Published in: Plastic and reconstructive surgery (1963) Vol. 142; no. 6; pp. 1478 - 1485
• Main Authors: Motosko, Catherine C., Zakhem, George A., Saadeh, Pierre B., Hazen, Alexes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons 01-12-2018
• Subjects: Cosmetic Techniques - statistics & numerical data; Cosmetic Techniques - trends; Humans; Internet - statistics & numerical data; Internet - trends; Patient Education as Topic - statistics & numerical data; Patient Education as Topic - trends; Procedures and Techniques Utilization; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures - statistics & numerical data; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures - trends; Search Engine - statistics & numerical data; Search Engine - trends; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0032-1052; 1529-4242
• DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000005045

Analysis of Internet search patterns is rapidly transforming the study of human behavior. Google's data, accessed through Google Trends, have proven extremely insightful in several fields of medical research. Despite its adoption in other fields of medicine, Google Trends has not yet been explored in the field of plastic surgery.
The number of cosmetic surgery procedures from 2005 through 2016 was obtained from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons annual reports. Using Google Trends, the most commonly used keywords describing each procedure were determined, and data regarding search interest over time, interest across geographic area, and Related Queries were obtained. The number of procedures performed annually was compared to relative search volume from the corresponding year and the year prior to determine correlation.
Of the 22 procedures evaluated, the annual number of eight procedures correlated with Internet search volume in the corresponding year, and six procedures correlated with the Internet searches performed in the year prior. Florida and New York were the states with the most searches for these procedures. Related Queries suggested that several factors, such as operative techniques, notable individuals undergoing procedures, and cost, variably drove correlations for different procedures.
Google Trends is a powerful tool that can be used to better understand patient interest in, questions about, and decisions regarding cosmetic surgery procedures. These findings warrant action by aesthetic surgeons to increase interest, address misinformation, and help patients fill the gaps of information missed by Internet searches.