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Google Trends and Injectable Products: The Next-Best Tool for Anticipating Patient Concerns in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

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Professional health care organizations including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) historically provide guidance to medical providers in the wake of major medical news and events. Consider, for example,… Click to show full abstract

Professional health care organizations including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) historically provide guidance to medical providers in the wake of major medical news and events. Consider, for example, the ASPS guidance published in response to the December 17, 2020 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) briefing document of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee for the Moderna COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) Vaccine.1 This information provides a framework for physicians to guide patient-physician conversations in formalized health care settings. However, it provides little insight into tangible patient concerns during the contemplation stage of decision-making prior to formalized patient consultations. We suggest utilizing Google Trends (GT) as a real-time tool to aid in identifying patient concerns. Therehave been several previously published case reports commenting on the immunogenicity of hyaluronic fillers as well as COVID-19 vaccine hypersensitivity and dermal manifestations.2–5 In theory, statements from professional organizations have a broader audiencebase than research articles from independent bodies including research institutions and universities. Few tools are available to both analyze how the public perception changes and capture significant concerns in the wake of these statements. In this virtual era where health-related information is readily accessible to patients via Internet searches, patients often form biases and premature decisions regarding treatment options prior to ever setting foot—or meeting virtually—in a provider’s office.6,7 Additionally, there is an ever-growing body of literature supporting the use of social media and its utility in communicating with patients, particularly within the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery.8–10 In order for physicians to address patient concerns on their Web-based platforms in the absence of in-person patient consultations, we advocate for the use of free analytical tools, particularly GT, to predict and mitigate patient concerns. We used a GT analysis to examine whether public interest in and concern over dermal fillers and related injectable products, namely botulinum toxin, increased in the wake of FDA adverse event reports, specifically the aforementioned December 2020 FDA Briefing. In our analysis, the following search terms (►Table 1) were queried on GT (Google LLC., Mountain View, CA). These search terms were grouped by the following categories: general terms, adverse reaction terms, safety consideration terms, procedural terminology, brand names of botulinum

Keywords: plastic reconstructive; patient concerns; google trends; reconstructive surgery; google

Journal Title: Archives of Plastic Surgery
Year Published: 2022

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