Figure 9. Long-Term Effects of Official Recommendations by the CMS and AAOS on Public Interest in Knee Arthroplasty-Related Search Terms.

Mean total search volumes before and after March 2020. Mean relative search volumes are compared between the period before announcements by the CMS and AAOS (January 2015 – Feb 2020) to the period afterward (March 2020 – May 2020). Pre- and post-announcement mean relative search volumes for each term were 77.32% and 54.33% for "knee arthroplasty" (p = 0.0003*), 44.40% and 37.67 for "partial knee arthroplasty" (p = 0.594), and 70.73% and 55.00% for "total knee arthroplasty" (p = 0.02*). Legend: * p < 0.05.

CMS: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; AAOS: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons