Trends in Public Search Behavior for Otorhinolaryngology: A Two-Decade Analysis

Google Trends provides data on searches made on Google from a specific region in a specific period. The aim of this study is to determine the focus of interest in otorhinolaryngology in Türkiye between 2004-2024 using this method.

Otorhinolaryngology was studied in five subbranches; namely, otology, rhinology, laryngology, head and neck surgery, and facial plastics. The 70 most searched terms in the last 20 years related to these subbranches were determined. The change in the search rates of the terms belonging to each subbranch and the change in the search percentages of the subbranches compared to the total number were determined and evaluated over the years.

In all terms examined, significant increases were observed in general since 2004. However, decrease was observed in all terms, except a few, in 2020-2021, i.e., during the pandemic. In the comparison between subbranches, in the last few years, the lowest search rate was seen in laryngology with 16.86%, and the highest search rate was seen in otology with 24.06%.

Knowing the topics where interest is clustered can be used to guide future medical practices and scientific research.