Is Public Interest Associated with Real-World Management of Ankyloglossia?

ObjectivesAssess the relationship between public interest in ankyloglossia as determined by internet search volume and real-world medical claims data.Study DesignRetrospective Cohort Study.SettingThis retrospective cohort study was conducted using claims data from the Merative (TM) Marketscan (R) Research Databases. The internet search data was collected from Google Trends.MethodsAnnual Google Trends data were compiled using search terms associated with "ankyloglossia" and "frenotomy" for the years 2011 to 2021. We obtained incidence of ankyloglossia diagnoses and frenotomy procedures in children under 12 months from Marketscan relative to all infants enrolled. We compared associations between search and incidence data among US states and over time.ResultsGoogle search correlated with ankyloglossia incidence (r = 0.4104, P = .0031) and with frenotomy incidence (r = 0.4062, P = .0034) per state. Ankyloglossia diagnoses increased with Google search index (coefficient = 0.336, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.284, 0.388) and year (coefficient = 0.028, 95% CI 0.025, 0.031). Similarly, frenotomy procedures increased with Google search index (coefficient = 0.371, 95% CI 0.313, 0.429) and year (coefficient = 0.027, 95% CI 0.024, 0.030).ConclusionsAssociations between online ankyloglossia search trends and both diagnosis and treatment rates, persist across US regions and timeframes. Internet search trends are pivotal in shaping pediatric health care decisions, driving clinical consensus, and disseminating evidence-based information.