University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine San Antonio, Texas, United States
Introduction/Purpose: Obesity has become an increasing concern as a public health issue, with steadily increasing prevalence of reported obesity over time. Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for obesity and obesity related conditions, and with widened access for surgical options, it is important to understand prospective patient and public interest in surgical management strategies. Our purpose was to analyze and compare the temporal trends of public online searches of terms related to bariatric surgery.
Methods or Case Description: A list of search terms were generated relating to bariatric surgery, including “Weight loss surgery, “Bariatric surgery”, “Sleeve Gastrectomy”, “Gastric Sleeve”, “Lap Band”, “Adjustable Gastric Band”, “Roux-en-Y”, “Gastric Bypass”, “Duodenal Switch”, and “Biliopancreatic Diversion”. Google Trends was utilized to obtain Relative Search Volume (RSV) for the above stated search terms and was analyzed for long term (2004 – 2021), US- and worldwide trends.
Outcomes: National trend analysis showed increase in search term volume for weight loss surgery and bariatric surgery via 1.6-fold as well as sleeve gastrectomy and gastric sleeve via 48.7-fold, (both P< 0.00001). Decrease in search term volume for lap band and adjustable gastric band was seen via 2.1-fold, along with Roux-en-Y and gastric bypass via 1.8-fold (both P< 0.001). Similarly, worldwide trend analysis resulted in increase in search term volume for weight loss surgery and bariatric surgery via 1.3-fold and increase in sleeve gastrectomy and gastric sleeve via 72.6-fold, (both P< 0.00001). Decrease in search term volume for lap band and adjustable gastric band was seen via 3.5-fold, as well as Roux-en-Y and gastric bypass via 2.4-fold (both P< 0.00001). Duodenal Switch and Biliopancreatic Diversion were found not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Search query interest for bariatric surgery has increased since 2004, with sleeve gastrectomy’s having the largest gain in search volume. Further research should be done to assess causal factors for solitary increase in interest of sleeve gastrectomy. As obesity becomes a larger issue, there has been more garnered public interest and self-education in surgical weight loss. This data may serve to provide guidance on multidisciplinary approaches and indicate increased prospective patient interest and open discussion on management strategies for obesity.
