Changes in public interest in sudden cardiac arrest: a big data analysis

Abstract

Abstract Background Search engine queries (SEQ) are considered a surrogate for public interest, with the most popular global search engine processing ~ 1.2 trillion online queries annually and >1 billion health-related queries daily.1 Big data from SEQ trends have been used for disease surveillance and may be able to offer insights for public health interventions, such as detecting respiratory illness outbreaks and understanding cardiac disease patterns.2-4 Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs in ~5 million people annually worldwide; October is internationally designated for SCA awareness, with public health campaigns aimed to improve early recognition of and early defibrillation for SCA. Use of big data from SEQ as a public health tool to assess changes in public interest surrounding SCA campaigns has not been explored. Purpose To characterize changes in public interest in SCA via analysis of internet SEQ trends. Methods Google Trends was queried for the terms "cardiac arrest", "cardiopulmonary resuscitation" (CPR), "automated external defibrillation" (AED) and "myocardial infarction" (MI) worldwide for the past 5 years (11/2018 – 11/2023). Relative search volumes (RSV, expressed in scale from 0-100) and related queries were analyzed. Baseline RSV for each term was defined as 2 weeks pre-peak. Numerical percentage and Chi square tests were used for statistical comparison. Results Compared to baseline, RSV for "cardiac arrest" significantly increased in correlation with the SCA of 2 professional athletes: Christian Eriksen (football, Denmark) on 6/12/2021 (+321%, p<0.001), Damar Hamlin (American football, United States) on 1/2/2023 (+653%, p<0.001) and collegiate athlete Bronny James (basketball, United States) on 7/24/2023 (+164%, p<0.001). (Figure) RSV significantly increased for "cardiopulmonary resuscitation" (+61% and +170% respectively, p<0.001 for both) and "Automated external defibrillator" (+141% and +192% p<0.001 and p=0.003, respectively) during the same period for pro-athletes but not for the college athlete (p=1.0 and p= 0.84 respectively). While none of the athletes had MI, RSV for "myocardial infarction" also had correlating increases over baseline for all 3 athletes (+35%, p<0.001 +30%, p<0.001 and +22%, p=0.027, respectively). RSV did not significantly change for any search terms during October SCA awareness months during the study period (all p>0.05). Conclusions Public interest in SCA, CPR and AED surge when SCA occurs in well-known individuals such as athletes, rather than with scheduled public health campaigns; co-surge in MI interest likely indicates on-going public confusion between SCA and MI. Analyses of big data from SEQ could assist cardiovascular societies in planning targeted SCA educational campaigns by building upon periodic natural surges in public interest in SCA, CPR and AED; this should include continued education on the differences in recognition and treatment of SCA and MI.