Celebrity Influence Affecting Public Interest in Plastic Surgery Procedures: Google Trends Analysis

Area of Science:

• Medical trends and public health
• Digital epidemiology
• Health communication

Background:

• Celebrity endorsements profoundly influence public health decisions and healthcare utilization.
• Google Trends (GT) offers a valuable, accessible tool for tracking public interest in health topics.
• High-profile celebrity announcements can correlate with shifts in public interest for specific medical procedures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the impact of celebrity announcements on public interest in specific surgical procedures using Google Trends.
• To quantify the changes in search volumes for terms related to prophylactic mastectomy, lip augmentation, gender-affirming surgery, and buttock augmentation following major celebrity disclosures.
• To establish the correlation between public figures' disclosures and real-world healthcare-related public interest.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Google Trends (GT) data from January 2004 to March 2019.
• Collected search volumes for terms associated with four key surgical categories: prophylactic mastectomy, lip augmentation, gender-affirming surgery, and buttock augmentation.
• Compared mean search volumes before and after celebrity announcements, and analyzed month-over-month percentage changes in search interest.

Main Results:

• Angelina Jolie's 2013 mastectomy announcement led to significant, sustained increases in searches for mastectomy and BRCA-related terms.
• Kylie Jenner's 2015 lip augmentation disclosure resulted in a dramatic rise in searches for "lip fillers" and related terms.
• Caitlyn Jenner's 2017 gender-affirming surgery announcement and Kim Kardashian's 2014 buttock augmentation rumors also showed substantial, lasting increases in related search queries.
• All analyzed celebrity announcements demonstrated significant, measurable impacts on public search interest for the respective procedures.

Conclusions:

• Google Trends data effectively captures shifts in public interest and healthcare utilization following high-profile events.
• The study validates GT as a robust tool for predicting public health trends in response to observable influences.
• Celebrity influence is a significant factor in public engagement with medical and surgical procedures.