The Charlie Sheen Effect
A new study led by an 黑料吃瓜 professor finds that Charlie Sheens HIV-positive disclosure corresponded with record levels of public engagement with HIV and HIV prevention.
On November 17, 2015 actor Charlie Sheen on NBC鈥檚 Today Show publicly he was human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive.
For some time scientists and advocates have the importance of celebrity in public health. Could Sheen鈥檚 disclosure, albeit tragic, generate renewed national attention for HIV and HIV prevention, providing an important public health benefit?
New research led by 黑料吃瓜 Graduate School of Public Health research professor, John W. Ayers 鈥� just published by the (JAMA) Internal Medicine 鈥� finds there were record highs of domestic news coverage of HIV and Google searches for information about HIV and HIV prevention following Charlie Sheen鈥檚 disclosure.
鈥淐harlie Sheen鈥檚 disclosure was a potential earth shaking event for HIV prevention in the United States,鈥� Ayers said.
Identifying trends
The team relied on public archives for news media trends using the and to describe HIV and HIV prevention engagement since 2004.
Focusing on the hours after Sheen鈥檚 disclosure, the team monitored news reports mentioning HIV and Google searches originating from the United States broken into four categories: HIV (all searches with 鈥淗IV鈥�), condoms (all searches with 鈥渃ondom鈥� or 鈥渃ondoms鈥�), HIV symptomology (all searches with 鈥渟ymptom,鈥� 鈥渟ymptoms鈥� or 鈥渟igns of鈥� and 鈥淗IV鈥�), and HIV testing (all searches with 鈥渢est,鈥� 鈥渢ests,鈥� or 鈥渢esting鈥� and 鈥淗IV鈥�).
鈥淭his big data strategy allowed us to provide a formative assessment of the potential impacts of Charlie Sheen鈥檚 HIV-positive disclosure at no cost,鈥� said Benjamin Althouse, a research scientist at the Institute for Disease Modeling and the Santa Fe Institute, and data architect of the study. 鈥淲e can directly assess the diffusion of media in the population and how the population is seeking out information based on the timing and content of their Google searches.鈥�
The day of Sheen鈥檚 disclosure coincided with a 265 percent increase in news reports mentioning HIV (97 percent of which also mentioned Sheen) archived on the Bloomberg Terminal, even though HIV-related news reports have been in historic decline. An additional 6,500 stories were reported on Google News alone. This placed Sheen鈥檚 disclosure among the top 1 percent of historic HIV-related media events.
Sheen鈥檚 disclosure also corresponded with the greatest number of HIV-related Google searches ever recorded in the United States on a single day. About 2.75 million more Google searches than expected, based on previous trends, included the term HIV on the day of Sheen鈥檚 disclosure, with 1.25 million more searches than expected including terms for condoms, HIV symptoms, or HIV testing; after adjusting for changes in overall search volume and historic trends.
In relative terms, all HIV searches were 417 percent higher than expected the day of Sheen鈥檚 disclosure. Condom searches (such as 鈥渂uy condoms鈥�) increased 75 percent. HIV symptom (such as 鈥渟igns of HIV鈥�) and HIV testing (such as 鈥渇ind HIV testing鈥�) searches increased 540 and 214 percent, respectively, the day of Sheen鈥檚 disclosure and remained higher for three days.
A public health challenge
鈥淲hile no one should be forced to reveal their HIV status and all diagnoses are tragic, Sheen鈥檚 disclosure may benefit public health by potentially helping many learn more about HIV and HIV prevention,鈥� Ayers said.
This potential comes on the heels of historic declines in domestic HIV awareness and prevention. Just two weeks before Sheen鈥檚 disclosure Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state of domestic HIV control. Of the in the United States living with HIV, nearly one in eight are unaware of their HIV-positive status.
鈥淪heen鈥檚 disclosure could be an important event to immediately raise public consciousness around HIV, and make public health messages about HIV that much more salient,鈥� said Seth Noar, University of North Carolina professor, an expert on HIV prevention media campaigns and coauthor of the study.
鈥淐elebrity disclosures to HIV, with Rock Hudson and Magic Johnson serving as noteworthy examples. Yet, Sheen鈥檚 disclosure could be different,鈥� said Eric Leas, a student of health communication at the University of California San Diego and study coauthor. 鈥淭he Web 2.0 era may ,鈥� added Leas.
鈥淲ith Sheen, unlike with Magic Johnson for instance, we have smartphones in our pockets that we can easily use to learn about HIV within seconds with a single search or click,鈥� Leas said. 鈥淎t the same time, social media can expand the effect of Sheen鈥檚 disclosure beyond the initial television broadcast as networks form around celebrities.鈥�
鈥淪adly, the public health community may be missing the mark,鈥� Ayers added. 鈥淚鈥檓 unaware of any major HIV educational campaigns that are using Sheen鈥檚 disclosure for public health outreach.鈥�
鈥淪heen is a controversial figure and it鈥檚 incredibly hard to frame public health messages around a figure whose behavior, not unlike any non-celebrity or myself, may at times conflict with public health science,鈥� said Ayers.
Controversy itself merits additional study to stay ahead of public debate, according to Mark Dredze, research scientist with Bloomberg LP, assistant research professor at Johns Hopkins University, and study coauthor. 鈥淧ublic health can use and expand our approach to further monitor HIV-related trends and be responsive to these changes in near real-time.鈥�
Still, the team notes that Sheen鈥檚 disclosure has already produced tremendous public health benefits. 鈥淢ore must be done to make the Charlie Sheen effect larger and lasting,鈥� Ayers concluded.
