DECLINE IN PUBLIC INTEREST FOR MOST BUT NOT ALL OF THE SPINAL DISEASES IN THE ERA OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Ertugrul Sahin

Izmir Kemalpasa State Hospital Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Sekiz Eylul Mahallesi, Kirovasi küme boulevard, 8/1 street Zip Code: 35730 Kemalpaşa, Izmir, Turkey

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed public behaviors. Spinal disorders can affect the health care system through patients of all ages and social statuses. Most people are asked to stay at home. However, it is unknown how the public will respond. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the Turkish population on spinal conditions by using Google Trends.

Materials and methods: Common spine-related conditions were categorized into 4 subgroups including pain (neck, back, and low back pain), deformity (scoliosis, kyphosis), degenerative conditions (spinal stenosis, disc herniation, spondylolisthesis), and trauma (vertebra fractures, spinal cord injury). These terms were translated into the Turkish local language. The Google Trends analysis was used to collect the data of all subgroups that were searched within “Turkey” from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020, at the “all categories” filter in “google web research”. 

Results: For 2019, “disc herniation” and for 2020, “low back pain” had the highest mean value of search volume. The most decline of the mean of search interest volume (SIV) was seen in “scoliosis” by %58,3 followed by 35,5% decline in back pain, 11,7% decline in “disc herniation”. There was an increase in the mean rank of SIV for “vertebrae fracture” by 42,6% and “kyphosis” by 6,3%. 

Conclusion: Public interest in most spine disorders decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However there were increases for trauma and kyphosis in the era of pandemic.