The Charlie Sheen Effect on Rapid In-home Human Immunodeficiency Virus Test Sales

Prevention Science : the Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research
Jon-Patrick AllemJohn W Ayers

Abstract

One in eight of the 1.2 million Americans living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are unaware of their positive status, and untested individuals are responsible for most new infections. As a result, testing is the most cost-effective HIV prevention strategy and must be accelerated when opportunities are presented. Web searches for HIV spiked around actor Charlie Sheen's HIV-positive disclosure. However, it is unknown whether Sheen's disclosure impacted offline behaviors like HIV testing. The goal of this study was to determine if Sheen's HIV disclosure was a record-setting HIV prevention event and determine if Web searches presage increases in testing allowing for rapid detection and reaction in the future. Sales of OraQuick rapid in-home HIV test kits in the USA were monitored weekly from April 12, 2014, to April 16, 2016, alongside Web searches including the terms "test," "tests," or "testing" and "HIV" as accessed from Google Trends. Changes in OraQuick sales around Sheen's disclosure and prediction models using Web searches were assessed. OraQuick sales rose 95% (95% CI, 75-117; p < 0.001) of the week of Sheen's disclosure and remained elevated for 4 more weeks (p < 0.05). In total, there were 8225 more sales than ex...Continue Reading

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Nov 21, 2013·Preventive Medicine·John W AyersJoanna E Cohen
Jan 8, 2014·Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs·Seth M NoarJohn W Ayers
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Citations

Aug 24, 2019·Journal of Interpersonal Violence·Michelle R KaufmanMark Dredze
Oct 24, 2019·JAMA Network Open·Eric C LeasJohn W Ayers
Feb 23, 2018·American Journal of Public Health·Cassandra K CrifasiColleen L Barry
Aug 27, 2019·Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS·Steffanie A StrathdeeJohn W Ayers
Oct 22, 2020·Journal of Medical Internet Research·John W AyersDavey Smith
Jan 26, 2021·International Journal of Nanomedicine·Sandeep KumarKi-Hyun Kim
Nov 8, 2017·Preventive Medicine·Seth M NoarJohn W Ayers

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