Relationship Between Social Media and Healthgrades Ratings for Spine Neurosurgeons

This study assessed whether social media involvement correlated with higher physician rating website (PRW) ratings and academic productivity. This retrospective study (November 2022–June 2023) reviewed all spine neurosurgeons in the American Association of Neurological Surgeons database. Neurosurgeon names were searched on Twitter/X, Instagram, and LinkedIn; number of followers was recorded. Healthgrades ratings and number of reviewers were collected. h -index was searched in Scopus. Statistical analysis included t -tests, Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test, and analysis of variance. A total of 1031 neurosurgeons were included (mean age, 61 years; 96.6% male). Median (interquartile range [IQR]) Healthgrades rating was 4.20 (1.00), and median h -index was 5.0 (1.0). Surgeons with a presence on LinkedIn (528; 51.2%), Twitter/X (113; 11.0%), and Instagram (38; 3.7%) were younger than those without social media (p