Public interest in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome in the United Kingdom, 2004–2026: a Google Trends infodemiology study
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Background
Public and clinical attention to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) has increased, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. We quantified changes in United Kingdom Google search interest and examined whether searches increasingly used diagnostic and self-assessment language.
Methods
We extracted monthly Google Trends relative search volume (RSV; 0–100) for the Health-category search term “Pots syndrome” in the United Kingdom from January 2004 through July 2026. Five extraction attempts were made; two returned complete, identical monthly series and were retained. Prespecified eras were summarised and an exploratory interrupted time-series model at March 2020 used ordinary least squares with Newey–West heteroskedasticity- and autocorrelation-consistent standard errors (12 lags). Comparator searches included conventional orthostatic diagnoses, POTS diagnostic terms, associated conditions and YouTube searches.
Results
The primary series comprised 271 complete months. Mean RSV increased from 18.6 during 2015–2019 to 64.8 during 2022–2023 (3.49-fold) and remained 50.6 during January 2024–July 2026 (2.73-fold above baseline). Search interest peaked in October 2022 (RSV 100); July 2026 RSV was 57. The interrupted time-series model estimated an immediate March 2020 level increase of 21.8 points (95% CI 2.8–40.7; p=0.024), while the slope change was not statistically supported (0.069 points/month, 95% CI −0.299 to 0.438; p=0.713). Searches for “POTS symptoms”, “POTS test” and “POTS heart rate” increased more steeply than the general term, although low baseline volumes made fold changes unstable.
Conclusions
UK Google search interest in POTS rose before 2020, increased sharply after the pandemic began, and remained substantially above its prepandemic baseline. The results demonstrate a sustained change in public attention, not disease incidence or social-media causation. The growth of symptom- and testing-oriented searches is compatible with increased diagnostic self-investigation and warrants linkage to referral, diagnosis and social-media exposure data.
