Public Interest in Sports Medicine and Surgery (Anterior Cruciate Ligament, Meniscus, Rotator Cuff) Topics Declined Following the COVID-19 Outbreak

Subhash, Ajith K.; Maldonado, David R.; Kajikawa, Trent M.; Chen, Sarah L.; Stavrakis, Alexandra; Photopoulos, Christos

Purpose To quantify the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic’s impact on public interest in sports medicine and surgery topics. Methods The Google Trends analysis tool (Google Search Volume Indices (GSVI)) was utilized to collect search information regarding orthopaedic sports medicine terms (“ACL”), “meniscus”, “rotator cuff”), and sports surgery terms (“ACL surgery”, “meniscus surgery”, and “rotator cuff surgery”) from May 2015 to May 2020. A time series analysis was performed for these GSVI’s and compared to the timing of the pandemic. Results Interest in both sports medicine and surgery declined following the COVID-19 outbreak. Following the World Health Organization’s statement on COVID-19’s pandemic status on March 11, 2020, searches for “ACL”, “meniscus”, “rotator cuff” declined by 34.78%, 43.95%, and 31.37% and search for “ACL surgery”, “meniscus surgery”, and “rotator cuff surgery” declined by 42.70%, 51.88%, and 53.32%. Conclusion The COVID-19 outbreak correlated with a decline in public interest in sports medicine and sports surgery topics as measured by Google searches.