Henry Tyler W, Fletcher Daniel, Vaccaro Alexander R, Beredjiklian Pedro K
Orthopaedic Surgery, Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, Philadelphia, USA.
Division of Hand Surgery, Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, Philadelphia, USA.
Cureus. 2021 Jul 20;13(7):e16523. doi: 10.7759/cureus.16523. eCollection 2021 Jul.
Background Patient interest and demand may have an impact on dictating the scope of orthopedic telehealth utilization beyond the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The purpose of this study was to assess whether current interest in orthopedic telehealth services is higher than pre-pandemic levels. Specific trends in interest, subspecialty differences, and regional differences were secondarily assessed. Methodology A Google Trends search was performed to assess orthopedic telehealth search interest over the last five years using the terms "Orthopedic surgeon/doctor/injury/pain + Telehealth" as well as subspecialty-specific terms. The results were formulated into combined search interest values (CSIVs), with a maximum possible value of 400, and compared between the pre-pandemic period, pre-vaccine period during the pandemic, and post-vaccine period. Results The pre-pandemic period mean CSIV was 40.3 (SD = 6.3), compared to 134.7 (SD = 72.1) during the pre-vaccine period, and 96.3 (SD = 4.4) during the post-vaccine period (p < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between CSIV and time (increasing weeks) during the pre-pandemic period (r = .77, p < 0.001) and no significant correlation between CSIV and time during the post-vaccine period (r = -.12, p = 0.610). Using the slope of the interest line during the post-vaccine period (y = 97.06 - 0.08x) it would take an additional 13.3 years beyond the study period to reach the mean pre-pandemic CSIV level of 40.3. Hand surgery was the subspecialty with the highest mean CSIV over the study period and general search interest was highest in Northeastern and Southeastern states during the post-vaccine period. Conclusions Orthopedic telehealth interest was growing before the COVID-19 pandemic and remains significantly elevated beyond pre-pandemic levels despite the reopening of clinical offices and vaccine availability across the country. It appears that a subset of patients will continue to seek telehealth services beyond the pandemic.
背景 患者的兴趣和需求可能会影响骨科远程医疗的使用范围，这种影响可能会持续到2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行之后。本研究的目的是评估当前对骨科远程医疗服务的兴趣是否高于大流行前的水平。其次，评估了兴趣的具体趋势、亚专业差异和地区差异。方法 使用“骨科外科医生/医生/损伤/疼痛 + 远程医疗”以及特定亚专业术语，通过谷歌趋势搜索来评估过去五年中骨科远程医疗的搜索兴趣。结果被整理为综合搜索兴趣值（CSIVs），其最大值为400，并在大流行前时期、大流行期间疫苗接种前时期和疫苗接种后时期之间进行比较。结果 大流行前时期的平均CSIV为40.3（标准差 = 6.3），疫苗接种前时期为134.7（标准差 = 72.1），疫苗接种后时期为96.3（标准差 = 4.4）（p < 0.001）。在大流行前时期，CSIV与时间（周数增加）之间存在正相关（r = 0.77，p < 0.001），而在疫苗接种后时期，CSIV与时间之间无显著相关性（r = -0.12，p = 0.610）。根据疫苗接种后时期兴趣线的斜率（y = 97.06 - 0.08x），在研究期之后还需要13.3年才能达到大流行前平均CSIV水平40.3。在研究期间，手外科是平均CSIV最高的亚专业，在疫苗接种后时期，东北部和东南部各州的总体搜索兴趣最高。结论 在COVID-19大流行之前，骨科远程医疗的兴趣就在增长，尽管全国各地的临床办公室重新开放且有疫苗可用，但目前仍显著高于大流行前的水平。看来，一部分患者在大流行之后仍将继续寻求远程医疗服务。
