Academic Journal
Effects of the pandemic and economic crisis on public search trends related to oral and maxillofacial surgery in Türkiye: a Google Trends time-series analysis (2020-2025).
| Τίτλος: | Effects of the pandemic and economic crisis on public search trends related to oral and maxillofacial surgery in Türkiye: a Google Trends time-series analysis (2020-2025). |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | İyilikci B; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Türkiye. biyilikci@pau.edu.tr. |
| Πηγή: | BMC oral health [BMC Oral Health] 2026 Feb 13; Vol. 26 (1). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Feb 13. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Observational Study |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101088684 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1472-6831 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14726831 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Oral Health Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2001- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | COVID-19*/epidemiology , Oral Surgical Procedures*/economics , Oral Surgical Procedures*/statistics & numerical data , Pandemics* , Economic Recession* , Surgery, Oral* , Search Engine* , Information Seeking Behavior*, Humans ; Internet ; SARS-CoV-2 |
| Περίληψη: | BACKGROUND: Large-scale societal disruptions, including pandemics and economic crises, profoundly influence healthcare-seeking behavior. Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) comprises both essential and elective procedures and is therefore particularly sensitive to external pressures. This study investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn affected public interest in OMS-related procedures in Türkiye via Google Trends. METHODS: This observational digital epidemiology time series study analyzed weekly relative search volume (RSV) data for four OMS-related keywords (“wisdom tooth extraction,” “oral surgery,” “implant,” and “jaw surgery”) retrieved from Google Trends between January 2020 and June 2025. Societal periods were categorized as pandemic restrictions/recovery, transition/normalization buffers, economic downturns, and extended follow-up periods. Data normality was assessed via the Shapiro–Wilk test. Between-period comparisons were conducted via the Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s post hoc pairwise comparisons (Holm–Bonferroni adjustment). Temporal changes were evaluated using segmented regression (interrupted time series analysis), enabling the assessment of level and trend changes across predefined societal periods with robust Newey–West standard errors. RESULTS: Interest in “wisdom tooth extraction” and “oral surgery” increased significantly during the postpandemic recovery period (p < 0.05), which is consistent with the rebound demand for deferred essential care. In contrast, interest in “implant” and “jaw surgery” declined significantly during the economic downturn (p < 0.01), indicating reduced public attention to high-cost elective procedures due to financial constraints. CONCLUSIONS: Public online interest in OMS procedures in Türkiye was shaped differently by pandemic-related service disruptions and subsequent economic pressures. Google Trends appears to be a valuable complementary tool for monitoring population-level shifts in healthcare interest and may support proactive clinical planning and health policy decision making during periods of societal instability. |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. This study used publicly available, anonymized, aggregated Google Trends data and did not involve human participants or identifiable information. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. |
| References: | BMC Oral Health. 2022 Sep 22;22(1):422. (PMID: 36138456) Health Policy. 2019 Mar;123(3):338-341. (PMID: 30660346) Br J Plast Surg. 2004 Sep;57(6):561-6. (PMID: 15308405) J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2017 Sep;7(3):185-189. (PMID: 28756828) J Consum Aff. 2022 Spring;56(1):141-157. (PMID: 35603321) Braz Oral Res. 2021 Jul 16;35:e082. (PMID: 34287465) Clin Exp Dent Res. 2021 Dec;7(6):943-950. (PMID: 34196128) J Health Psychol. 2020 Aug;25(9):1155-1163. (PMID: 32551944) Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2011 Sep;40(9):926-30. (PMID: 21616638) JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2019 May 29;5(2):e13439. (PMID: 31144671) Int J Surg. 2017 Aug;44:56-63. (PMID: 28625820) J Med Internet Res. 2018 Nov 06;20(11):e270. (PMID: 30401664) Ann Surg Open. 2022 Feb 25;3(1):e142. (PMID: 37600105) Am J Prev Med. 2015 Feb;48(2):229-233. (PMID: 25442228) PLoS One. 2014 Oct 22;9(10):e109583. (PMID: 25337815) PLoS One. 2011;6(6):e20724. (PMID: 21695209) |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Digital epidemiology; Economic crisis; Google Trends; Oral and maxillofacial surgery; Pandemic |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260214 Date Completed: 20260627 Latest Revision: 20260813 |
| Update Code: | 20260813 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13005481 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12903-026-07878-7 |
| PMID: | 41689022 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1472-6831 |
|---|---|
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12903-026-07878-7 |