Do Google Trends Correlate with the Number of Facial Plastic Surgery Procedures Performed in the United States?

Cosmetic facial surgical procedures have become increasingly popular. Previous studies have shown an association between Internet searches for and volume of these procedures being performed. There is a paucity of data on the correlation between Google Trends search volumes and actual number of facial plastic surgery procedures performed.

Google Trends, a tool that collects and analyzes the results from Google, was used to identify the average search volumes of popular facial plastic surgery procedures between 2004 and 2020. The identified search terms were correlated with the actual number of facial plastic surgery procedures done as reported by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. A Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was completed to determine correlation between the two variables.

There were very weak to moderate correlations between relative search volume (RSV), the ratio of a query's search volume to the sum of the total search volume over a given time period, of procedures with the number of procedures performed in the same or following year. Of the six terms (blepharoplasty, cheek implant, neck lift, mentoplasty, rhinoplasty, rhytidectomy) evaluated, correlation of RSV and number of procedures completed in the same year and the following year showed very weak to moderate correlations. The associated searches for the terms were related to specifics of a procedure including cost, before and after photos, different terms for a given procedure, or other related procedures.

This study showed that RSV for common cosmetic plastic surgery procedures did not significantly correlate with the number of procedures performed annually in the United States. More research is needed to further understand the use of Google Trends in gauging patient interest in a procedure and understanding what patients seek to learn about a procedure.