• John C Lin, Lan Jiang, Ingrid U Scott, and Paul B Greenberg.
• Program in Liberal Medical Education, Brown University; Division of Ophthalmology, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
• R I Med J (2013). 2021 Feb 1; 104 (1): 61-64.

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on public interest in ophthalmology.MethodsSearch interest data for ophthalmic services and conditions were collected from January 1, 2019 to June 21, 2020. Temporal statistical analysis was used to identify significant trends. Weekly data on ophthalmic services and conditions search interest obtained from Google Trends were analyzed with analysis of variance testing and the generalized linear model based on dates.ResultsOphthalmic services searches decreased after the first COVID-19 case in the country (p<0.001); ophthalmic services and conditions search interest also declined after the first COVID-19 case and lockdown orders in each state (p<0.001). Following the first in-state COVID-19 case, search interest in ophthalmic services fell more than for ophthalmic conditions (p=0.0088). Lockdown and COVID-19 had similar effects on ophthalmic services search interest (p=0.2246), but interest in ophthalmic conditions decreased more after lockdown than after the first in-state case (p<0.0001).ConclusionsMost of the decrease in search interest in ophthalmic services was associated with COVID-19 rather than lockdown orders, suggesting that public interest in ophthalmic care may be more sensitive to changes in the COVID-19 pandemic than lockdown orders.

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