(028) ANALYZING GOOGLE SEARCH TRENDS FOR “VAGINAL ESTROGEN” AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO MEDICAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POST-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Abstract Introduction Over two million women reach menopause each year in the United States, subsequently creating a demand for medical symptomatic relief. This can come in many forms, ranging from topical treatments to oral hormone therapy. It is important to examine closely the popularity and awareness of these different types of treatment options in the U.S. to fully gauge how sexual healthcare is administered to women. The study focuses on vaginal estrogen treatment, specifically its relevance to post-menopausal women over the years, through Google search trends and rising literature recommendations. Objective Our study aims to investigate the correlation between Google search trends for the term "vaginal estrogen" and the rising literature recommendations of vaginal estrogen for postmenopausal women. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of Google search trends data for the term "vaginal estrogen" and other related words. The word “weather” (a term that is consistently searched) was used as a control to compare against when analyzing the trends. We simultaneously examined medical recommendations in major urology societies’ websites and social media forums for vaginal estrogen in the context of post-menopausal symptom management. Time series analysis (a 6-month simple moving average) and statistical modeling were employed to evaluate the trends and relationships between these variables. Results Our results reveal a positive correlation (R2 = 0.721) between the increasing search interest in "vaginal estrogen" and the number of articles on this treatment option among post-menopausal women. While it may or may not be causative, it suggests that there is a growing interest in this treatment from the public. With the recent increase in physician recommendations to include vaginal estrogen as part of the treatment regimen for post-menopausal women, we found an increasing public awareness and interest in this treatment option. Conclusions Our study demonstrates a noteworthy connection between the rising medical recommendations for vaginal estrogen in the management of postmenopausal symptoms and the growing search interest for the term "vaginal estrogen" on Google. The data underscores that the medical community's endorsement of vaginal estrogen is fostering greater awareness and acceptance of this therapy among post-menopausal women. Further research is needed to determine its equal accessibility to all patients. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Coloplast.