Awareness campaigns for cochlear implants: Are we making an impact?

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to determine if the major public awareness campaign for cochlear implants ‘International Cochlear Implant Day’ influenced national and international public interest as measured by internet search activity.

Methods

Weekly search volume data in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, Brazil, India, Japan, and a ‘Worldwide’ group for the search topic ‘cochlear implant’ was collected from Google Trends over a 5-year period (2017–2021). The ‘Campaign’ window was defined as 1 week before, the week of, and 2 weeks after International Cochlear Implant Day (February 25th). ‘Non-Campaign’ weeks were considered any data outside the ‘Campaign’ window.

Results

Of the studied regions, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India, and ‘Global’ demonstrated a significant increase in internet search activity between 2017 and 2021. Although some individual years showed significant increases during the ‘Campaign’ period for Canada, Germany, Brazil, and Japan, none showed statistically significant increases over the 5-year period studied.

Conclusion

Public awareness campaigns are recognized crucial elements to delivering effective healthcare, but their success varies worldwide. While data from Google Trends suggests that cochlear implant awareness campaigns can translate into increased internet searches, greater efforts can be made in select countries to improve public interest.

Keywords:

• International cochlear implant day
• Awareness
• Advocacy
• Google
• Trends
• Cochlear implant
• Internet

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joshua M. Kang

Joshua M. Kang is an alumnus of the VCU School of Medicine and is set to commence his otolaryngology residency training at SUNY Downstate.

Mihai Bentan

Mihai Bentan is currently pursuing his medical studies at the VCU School of Medicine.

Daniel H. Coelho

Daniel H. Coelho serves as a specialist in otolaryngology at VCU, with a focus on otology and neurotology, particularly in cochlear implantation.