Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Mar;26(1):55-63.
doi: 10.5397/cise.2022.01347. Epub 2023 Feb 23.

Internet search analytics for shoulder arthroplasty: what questions are patients asking?

Johnathon R McCormick  1 , Matthew C Kruchten  1 , Nabil Mehta  1 , Dhanur Damodar  1 , Nolan S Horner  1 , Kyle D Carey  1 , Gregory P Nicholson  1 , Nikhil N Verma  1 , Grant E Garrigues  1
Affiliations

Internet search analytics for shoulder arthroplasty: what questions are patients asking?

Johnathon R McCormick et al. Clin Shoulder Elb. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Common questions about shoulder arthroplasty (SA) searched online by patients and the quality of this content are unknown. The purpose of this study is to uncover questions SA patients search online and determine types and quality of webpages encountered.

Methods: The "People also ask" section of Google Search was queried to return 900 questions and associated webpages for general, anatomic, and reverse SA. Questions and webpages were categorized using the Rothwell classification of questions and assessed for quality using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria.

Results: According to Rothwell classification, the composition of questions was fact (54.0%), value (24.7%), and policy (21.3%). The most common webpage categories were medical practice (24.6%), academic (23.2%), and medical information sites (14.4%). Journal articles represented 8.9% of results. The average JAMA score for all webpages was 1.69. Journals had the highest average JAMA score (3.91), while medical practice sites had the lowest (0.89). The most common question was, "How long does it take to recover from shoulder replacement?"

Conclusions: The most common questions SA patients ask online involve specific postoperative activities and the timeline of recovery. Most information is from low-quality, non-peer-reviewed websites, highlighting the need for improvement in online resources. By understanding the questions patients are asking online, surgeons can tailor preoperative education to common patient concerns and improve postoperative outcomes.

Keywords: Internet; Patient preference; Quality improvement; Search engine; Arthroplasty, replacement, shoulder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

None.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Rothwell classification for general, anatomic, and reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Questions for each of the three search groups as categorized by Rothwell classification: fact, policy, and value.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Subcategorization of questions for general, anatomic, and reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Breakdown of questions into subcategorizations based on topical content.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Breakdown of websites classified based on host webpages.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Flood AB, Lorence DP, Ding J, McPherson K, Black NA. The role of expectations in patients’ reports of post-operative outcomes and improvement following therapy. Med Care. 1993;31:1043–56. - PubMed
    1. Judge A, Cooper C, Arden NK, et al. Pre-operative expectation predicts 12-month post-operative outcome among patients undergoing primary total hip replacement in European orthopaedic centres. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2011;19:659–67. - PubMed
    1. Klafta JM, Roizen MF. Current understanding of patients’ attitudes toward and preparation for anesthesia: a review. Anesth Analg. 1996;83:1314–21. - PubMed
    1. Mondloch MV, Cole DC, Frank JW. Does how you do depend on how you think you’ll do?: a systematic review of the evidence for a relation between patients’ recovery expectations and health outcomes. CMAJ. 2001;165:174–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tashjian RZ, Bradley MP, Tocci S, Rey J, Henn RF, Green A. Factors influencing patient satisfaction after rotator cuff repair. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2007;16:752–8. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources