Kienzle Arne, Biedermann Lara, Babeyko Evgeniya, Kirschbaum Stephanie, Duda Georg, Perka Carsten, Gwinner Clemens
Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Laboratory of Adaptive and Regenerative Biology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
J Clin Med. 2021 Mar 4;10(5):1067. doi: 10.3390/jcm10051067.
Due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, a large number of elective knee replacement procedures had to be postponed in both early and late 2020 in most western countries including Germany and the UK. It is unknown how public interest and demand for total knee arthroplasties was affected. Public interest in knee pain, knee osteoarthritis and knee arthroplasty in Germany and the UK was investigated using Google Trend Analysis. In addition, we monitored for changes in patient composition in our outpatient department. As of early March in Germany and of late March in the UK, until the lockdown measures, a 50 to 60% decrease in relative search frequency was observed in all categories investigated compared to the beginning of the year. While public interest for knee pain rapidly recovered, decreased interest for knee osteoarthritis and replacement lasted until the easing of measures. Shortly prior to and during the first lockdown mean search frequency for knee replacement was significantly decreased from 39.7% and 36.6 to 26.9% in Germany and from 47.7% and 50.9 to 23.7% in the UK (Germany: = 0.022 prior to lockdown, < 0.001 during lockdown; UK: < 0.0001 prior to and during lockdown). In contrast, mean search frequencies did not differ significantly from each other for any of the investigated time frames during the second half of 2020 in both countries. Similarly, during the first lockdown, the proportion of patients presenting themselves to receive primary knee arthroplasty compared to patients that had already undergone knee replacement declined markedly from 64.7% to 46.9%. In contrast, patient composition changed only marginally during the lockdown measures in late 2020 in both Germany and the UK. We observed a high level of public interest in knee arthroplasty despite the ongoing pandemic. The absence of a lasting decline in interest in primary knee arthroplasty suggests that sufficient symptom reduction cannot be achieved without surgical care for a substantial number of patients.
由于严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2型（SARS-CoV-2）大流行，包括德国和英国在内的大多数西方国家在2020年年初和年末都不得不推迟大量择期膝关节置换手术。目前尚不清楚公众对全膝关节置换术的兴趣和需求受到了怎样的影响。我们利用谷歌趋势分析调查了德国和英国公众对膝关节疼痛、膝骨关节炎和膝关节置换术的兴趣。此外，我们监测了门诊患者构成的变化。截至德国3月初和英国3月末，在实施封锁措施之前，与年初相比，所有调查类别中的相对搜索频率均下降了50%至60%。虽然公众对膝关节疼痛的兴趣迅速恢复，但对膝骨关节炎和置换术的兴趣下降一直持续到措施放宽。在第一次封锁之前不久及期间，德国膝关节置换术的平均搜索频率从39.7%和36.6%显著降至26.9%，英国从47.7%和50.9%降至23.7%（德国：封锁前 = 0.022，封锁期间 < 0.001；英国：封锁前和封锁期间均 < 0.0001）。相比之下，在2020年下半年的任何调查时间范围内，两国的平均搜索频率彼此之间均无显著差异。同样，在第一次封锁期间，接受初次膝关节置换术的患者与已接受膝关节置换术的患者相比，比例从64.7%显著下降至46.9%。相比之下，在2020年末德国和英国的封锁措施期间，患者构成仅略有变化。尽管疫情仍在持续，我们观察到公众对膝关节置换术的兴趣依然很高。对初次膝关节置换术的兴趣没有持续下降，这表明对于相当一部分患者而言，若不进行手术治疗，就无法充分减轻症状。
