Public Interest in Textured Breast Implants Recall: A Google Trends Analysis

Area of Science:

• Medical Device Safety
• Public Health Surveillance
• Health Communication

Background:

• Media coverage significantly influences public healthcare utilization.
• Google Trends (GT) offers a proxy for public interest by tracking global search volumes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of the March 2019 FDA Advisory Committee Meeting and July 2019 FDA/Allergan announcements on public interest in breast implant removal and breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL).
• To evaluate the utility of Google Trends (GT) in characterizing public interest shifts related to breast implant safety concerns.

Main Methods:

• Collected Google Trends (GT) search volume data from January 2004 to October 2019 for terms related to Allergan BIOCELL® textured breast implants, BIA-ALCL, and breast implant removal.
• Analyzed monthly search volume changes to determine short-term and long-term public interest shifts following key FDA and Allergan announcements.

Main Results:

• Public interest in "textured breast implants" and "Allergan breast implant" surged by 456% and 669% respectively after Allergan's recall.
• Searches for "anaplastic large cell lymphoma breast implant" and "ALCL cancer" increased by 200% and 175%.
• A statistically significant increase (p < 0.05) in long-term interest for all implant removal terms was observed post-March 2019.

Conclusions:

• Google Trends data correlate with real-world healthcare utilization shifts driven by media coverage.
• GT serves as a valuable tool for healthcare providers to predict public health trends in response to significant events.
• Real-time monitoring of public interest via GT can inform public health strategies and resource allocation.