V. Yellapu1,3, A. Gayner4, A. Green2,3, P. G. Thomas2, R. Wilde-Onia2, S. P. Stawicki2,3 1St. Luke’s University Health Network,Department Of Orthopaedics,Bethlehem, PA, USA 2St. Luke’s University Health Network,Department Of Surgery,Bethlehem, PA, USA 3St. Luke’s University Health Network,Department Of Research & Innovation,Bethlehem, PA, USA 4Pennsylvania State University,State College, PA, USA
Introduction: Traumatic injuries tend to have specific incidence patterns over time. Over the past two decades, “big data” trending capabilities became available, revealing correlations between various natural and man-made phenomena and “Internet search activity” (ISA). However, there is little information on the relationships between Google Trends (GT)-ISA and actual traumatic injury patterns. We sought to compare injury frequency data between our Level I Trauma Center (L1TC) and GT-ISA.
Methods: After surveying >100 injury types for “seasonal trending” using GT-ISA data, 12 major categories were identified (Table 1). GT-ISA frequencies were normalized (using yearly medians) and arranged using composite calendar months (2004-2017). L1TC data were similarly normalized/organized (2000-2017). For each injury category, composite monthly data were compared for correlation (Pearson), data distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov), and measures of central tendencies. Significance was set at p<0.05.
Results:Twelve injury categories identified as “seasonally trending” were analyzed using normalized GT-ISA versus L1TC occurrence frequencies. The raw correlation between GT-ISA/L1TC was low (r=0.253). However, significant heterogeneity was noted within the overall dataset, suggesting that specific injury types varied in both their susceptibility to “seasonal trending” and the correlation between L1TC/GT-ISA observations (Table 1).
Conclusion:L1TC/GT-ISA data correlated well for motorcycle/bicycle crashes, winter sports (except hockey), and football-related trauma. This did not universally correspond to normalized monthly data distribution similarities. Temporal differences between L1TC/GT-ISA for winter sports (except hockey) are likely due to geographic (e.g., Colorado vs. Pennsylvania) and trauma referral patterns (e.g., L1TC proximity to local winter sport locations). Further research in this area is warranted.
