Effects of the COVID-19 on the public interest in medical specialties in Brazil

ABSTRACT

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social isolation on the interest rates of different medical specialties in Brazil. METHODS: The research was performed using the terms "Médico" (Doctor), "Infectologista" (Infectologist), "Cirurgião" (Surgeon), "Geriatra" (Geriatrician), "Otorrinolaringologista" (Otolaryngologist), and "Oftalmologista" (Ophthalmologist), related to several medical specialties, and "COVID-19," which represented the public interest for the disease, utilizing the Brazilian version of Google Trends, where the data were acquired. The time range of this analysis was from 29 September, 2019 to 20 September, 2020. The data were tabulated in Microsoft Excel, exported to the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software, and correlated with searches for the term "COVID-19" using Pearson's correlation. 95% confidence interval was used for all analyses. RESULTS: "Geriatra" (72.26±16.42) and "Cirurgião" (72.15±12.53) remained with the higher means among the evaluated specialties. In terms of standard deviation, "Oftalmologista" (64.71±16.72) and "Infectologista" (22.03±16.60) presented the most significant changes. After utilizing the Pearson's analysis to identify the correlation between each medical specialty and the term "COVID-19," all the evaluated specialties presented significant statistical correlations. "Oftalmologista" (r= -0.607) was notoriously the most negatively affected, while "Infectologista" (r=0.504) was pointed to have the highest positive correlation with the term. CONCLUSIONS: Several changes in the interest rates of different medical specialties in Brazil were found during the time range of the COVID-19 pandemic.