Increased Interest in Oral Minoxidil for Hair Loss Treatment Following Publication of August 2022 New York Times Article: A Google Trends Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common form of hair loss, with negative impact on patient quality of life. Oral minoxidil is used off-label for AGA treatment. We hypothesized increased public interest in oral minoxidil for hair loss treatment following the New York Times (NYT) Article on oral minoxidil: “An Old Medicine Grows New Hair for Pennies a Day, Doctors Say.” The objective of this study was to quantify interest in oral minoxidil for hair loss treatment before and after the NYT article and help inform dermatologists about treatments of interest to their patients. Method: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of Google Trends evaluating relative prevalence of “oral minoxidil,” “minoxidil,” “hair loss,” and “Rogaine^®” 2/2022–5/2023. t tests compared mean search volume and linear regression analysis quantified changes in public interest over time. Results: Oral minoxidil and minoxidil search volumes increased from 0.86 to 3.00 and 22.43 to 32.60, respectively, before and after the NYT article (both p < 0.05). Minoxidil searches continually increased by 500,000 searches per month (p < 0.001). Conclusions: There was a significant and sustained increase in Google searches for oral minoxidil after publication of the NYT article, indicating increased patient interest. Larger clinical trials are needed to provide evidence-based care to AGA patients.