ABSTRACT
Background Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) hospital admissions decreased during the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. There is limited information on how Google searches related to patients behavior during this time. Methods We examined de-identified data from 2019 through 2020 regarding monthly: 1) admissions for ACS from the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System;2) out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) from NEMSIS public dataset;and 3) Google searches for "chest pain", "coronavirus", "chest pressure", and "hospital safe" from Google Trends. We analyzed the trends for ACS admissions, OHCA, and Google searches. Results During the early months of the first COVID-19 outbreak: 1)Veterans Affairs data showed a significant reduction in ACS admissions at a national and regional (Florida) level (Figure 1);2) NEMSIS database showed a marked increase in OHCA at a national level;and 3) Google Trends showed a significant increase in the before mentioned Google searches at a national and regional level. Conclusion ACS hospital admissions decreased during the beginning of the pandemic likely due to delayed healthcare utilization secondary to patients fear of acquiring COVID-19 infection. Concordantly, Google searches for hospital safety and ACS symptoms increased along with OHCA events during this time. Our results suggest that Google Trends may be a useful tool to predict patients behavior and increase preparedness for future events, however, statistical strategies to establish association are needed. [Formula presented]Copyright © 2023 American College of Cardiology Foundation