Temporal Trends and Interest in Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring Over Time: An Infodemiology Study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate interest in coronary artery calcium (CAC) among the general public during the past 17 years and to compare trends with real-world data on number of CAC procedures performed.

METHODS

We used Google Trends, a publicly available database, to access search query data in a systematic and quantitative fashion to search for CAC-related key terms. Search terms included , , , , and . We accessed Google Trends in January 2021 and analyzed data from 2004 to 2020.

RESULTS

From 2004 to December 31, 2020, CAC-related search interest (in relative search volume) increased continually worldwide (+201.9%) and in the United States (+354.8%). Three main events strongly influenced search interest in CAC: reports of a CAC scan of the president of the United States led to a transient 10-fold increase in early January 2018. American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline release led to a sustained increase, and lockdown after the global pandemic due to COVID-19 led to a transient decrease. Real-world data on performed CAC scans showed an increase between 2006 and 2017 (+200.0%); during the same time period, relative search volume for CAC-related search terms increased in a similar pattern (+70.6%-1511.1%). For the search term , a potential representative of active online search for CAC scanning, we found a +28.8% increase in 2020 compared with 2017.

CONCLUSION

Google Trends, a valuable tool for assessing public interest in health-related topics, suggests increased overall interest in CAC during the last 17 years that mirrors real-world usage data. Increased interest is seemingly linked to reports of CAC testing in world leaders and endorsement in major guidelines.