{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T19:04:29Z","timestamp":1782846269879,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"JMIR Publications Inc.","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JMIR Med Inform"],"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Background<\/jats:title>\n Fractional carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) laser resurfacing is widely used for the treatment of scars and photoaging. In recent years, public interest in minimally invasive esthetic procedures has grown, influenced by social media exposure and changing beauty norms. However, data quantifying population-level attention to CO\u2082 laser treatments in Germany are limited.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objective<\/jats:title>\n This study aimed to assess the long-term trajectory and seasonal patterns of public information-seeking behavior regarding fractional CO\u2082 laser treatments in Germany from January 2020 to December 2025 using Google Trends data.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n Monthly normalized search volume (NSV) for the category \u201cHealth\u201d and the term \u201cCO2 laser\u201d was retrieved for the period January 2020 to December 2025. Seasonal-Trend decomposition (STL) using LOESS (locally estimated scatterplot smoothing) was applied to isolate the long-term trend from seasonal fluctuations. The significance of the upward trajectory was assessed using linear regression on the extracted trend component, and seasonal differences were evaluated via the seasonal component amplitude.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Public interest in CO\u2082 lasers increased significantly, with the annual mean NSV rising from 15.0 in 2020 to 68.1 in 2025. Regression analysis of the STL trend component revealed a steady, statistically significant monthly increase (slope=0.87 NSV\/month; 95% CI 0.83\u20100.92;\n P<\/jats:italic>\n <.001). Furthermore, a robust seasonal pattern was identified (\n P<\/jats:italic>\n <.001), with search interest consistently peaking in winter (January mean SD 13.8) and reaching a nadir during the summer months (August SD=\u201314.4).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n Digital information-seeking behavior regarding fractional CO\u2082 laser treatments in Germany increased by 354% over the past six years, accompanied by consistent, clinically relevant seasonal peaks in winter. These findings reflect broader shifts in esthetic awareness. The identified temporal patterns provide valuable insights for timing educational messaging, managing patient inquiries, and addressing safety considerations in esthetic medicine.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2196\/77651","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,6]],"date-time":"2026-03-06T18:05:09Z","timestamp":1772820309000},"page":"e77651-e77651","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["CO2 Laser Popularity in Germany: A Five-Year Google Trends Analysis (2020\u20102025)"],"prefix":"10.2196","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9573-3009","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael Constantin","family":"Kirchberger","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-7520-2813","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreas","family":"Eisenried","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1010","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,21]]},"reference":[{"issue":"11","key":"R1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1777","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1524-4725.2012.02572.x","article-title":"Ablative fractionated CO2 laser treatment of photoaging: a clinical and histologic study","volume":"38","author":"Tierney","journal-title":"Dermatol Surg"},{"issue":"1","key":"R2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/dth.14539","article-title":"The efficacy of fractional CO laser in acne scar treatment: a meta-analysis","volume":"34","author":"Zhang","journal-title":"Dermatol Ther"},{"key":"R3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/wound.2024.0213","article-title":"Treatment of surgical scars with fractional carbon dioxide (CO ) laser: a randomized controlled trial","author":"Chen","journal-title":"Adv Wound Care"},{"issue":"4","key":"R4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1498","DOI":"10.1111\/jocd.16121","article-title":"Evaluating public interest in CO2 laser treatment: an analysis of Google Trends","volume":"23","author":"Taylor","journal-title":"J Cosmet Dermatol"},{"key":"R5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/42609","article-title":"Use of social media for patient education in dermatology: narrative review","volume":"6","author":"Wojtara","journal-title":"JMIR Dermatol"},{"issue":"1","key":"R6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/jmir.1157","article-title":"Infodemiology and infoveillance: framework for an emerging set of public health informatics methods to analyze search, communication and publication behavior on the Internet","volume":"11","author":"Eysenbach","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"issue":"11","key":"R7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/jmir.9366","article-title":"Assessing the methods, tools, and statistical approaches in Google Trends research: systematic review","volume":"20","author":"Mavragani","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"issue":"2","key":"R8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/13439","article-title":"Google Trends in infodemiology and infoveillance: methodology framework","volume":"5","author":"Mavragani","journal-title":"JMIR Public Health Surveill"},{"issue":"1","key":"R9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/27712","article-title":"Google Trends in dermatology: scoping review of the literature","volume":"4","author":"Sivesind","journal-title":"JMIR Dermatol"},{"key":"R10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/69796","article-title":"The Influence of popular media on public interest in red-light therapy: longitudinal trend analysis","volume":"8","author":"Shen","journal-title":"JMIR Dermatol"},{"issue":"11","key":"R11","first-page":"1245","volume":"17","author":"Motosko","journal-title":"J Drugs Dermatol"},{"issue":"11","key":"R12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1253","DOI":"10.1093\/asj\/sjz264","article-title":"Predicting public interest in nonsurgical cosmetic procedures using Google Trends","volume":"40","author":"Tijerina","journal-title":"Aesthet Surg J"},{"key":"R13","unstructured":"Interesse im zeitlichen verlauf. Google Trends. URL: https:\/\/trends.google.com\/trends\/explore?cat=45&date=today%205-y&geo=DE&q=%2Fm%2F047pqn&hl=de [Accessed 06-04-2026]"}],"container-title":["JMIR Medical Informatics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/medinform.jmir.org\/2026\/1\/e77651","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T18:09:55Z","timestamp":1782842995000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/medinform.jmir.org\/2026\/1\/e77651"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,21]]},"references-count":13,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2196\/77651","relation":{},"ISSN":["2291-9694"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2291-9694","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,21]]},"article-number":"v14i11e77651"}}