The ‘Charlie Sheen Effect’: Surge In At-Home HIV Test Kits After Actor’s Public Announcement stat : Medical Daily

After Charlie Sheen's HIV announcement the sale of at-home test kits for the virus nearly doubled, according to a study.Human immunodeficiency virus infection, or HIV, can lead to AIDS if not treated. See also: Charlie Sheen's HIV Doc Samir Chachoua Goes On Bill Maher, Proclaims He's 'Cured Countries!' Photo courtesy of PixabayThe same researchers previously found that after Sheen's announcement there was an increase in internet searchers for information on HIV. Charlie Sheen Says It Is 'Impossible' For Him To Transmit His HIV Through Unprotected Sex, But What Does That Actually Mean? During the week of his announcement, the sale of at-home test kits soared, and continued to sell at high rates even a month later, researchers found in an updated study on the "Charlie Sheen Effect."




Using Internet searches alone the team was able to predict HIV testing sales within seven percent for any given weeks. At the time, it was coined "the Sheen Effect."Related: Charlie Sheen Laughs At HIV, Can We? Sheen not only increased internet searches, his announcement drove sales of testing kits to record highs, says researchers. This announcement was not coordinated with any public health initiative, nor did Sheen specifically call for everyone to be screened at the time. Researchers were dumbfounded at the reaction of the public, based on internet search data– primarily searches for HIV prevention and testing.

Charlie Sheen boosted HIV awareness and testing, says study

Notable was that there was no call on HIV awareness at that time from either Sheen or public health leaders. Research on Charlie Sheen's disclosure of being HIV-positive shows how star power can influence people—up to increasing awareness on public health. OraQuick sales almost doubled following Sheen's public admission and "8,225 more sales than expected" was recorded in the three weeks after. They found that there was a correlation between the online searches on HIV and testing to the number of home-testing kits purchased. When actor Charlie Sheen publicly revealed he was HIV-positive last November 17, 2015, researchers found that there was an uptick in both online searches on HIV and in sales of home-testing kits.


collected by :Lucy William
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