Allem Jon-Patrick, Leas Eric C, Caputi Theodore L, Dredze Mark, Althouse Benjamin M, Noar Seth M, Ayers John W
Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 2001 N. Soto Street, 3rd Floor Mail, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA.
University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Prev Sci. 2017 Jul;18(5):541-544. doi: 10.1007/s11121-017-0792-2.
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 expected around Sheen's disclosure, surpassing World AIDS Day by a factor of about 7. Moreover, Web searches mirrored OraQuick sales trends (r = 0.79), demonstrating their ability to presage increases in testing. The "Charlie Sheen effect" represents an important opportunity for a public health response, and in the future, Web searches can be used to detect and act on more opportunities to foster prevention behaviors.
在120万感染人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）的美国人中，八分之一的人并不知道自己已感染，而未经检测的个体是大多数新感染病例的源头。因此，检测是最具成本效益的HIV预防策略，一旦有机会就必须加快推进。在演员查理·辛披露自己感染HIV呈阳性后，网络上对HIV的搜索量激增。然而，辛的披露是否影响了诸如HIV检测等线下行为尚不清楚。本研究的目的是确定辛的HIV披露是否是一个创纪录的HIV预防事件，并确定网络搜索能否预示检测量的增加，以便未来能够快速检测并做出反应。从2014年4月12日至2016年4月16日，每周监测美国OraQuick家用HIV快速检测试剂盒的销售情况，同时监测来自谷歌趋势的包含“检测”“检测方法”或“检测”以及“HIV”等关键词的网络搜索情况。评估了辛披露事件前后OraQuick的销售变化以及使用网络搜索的预测模型。在辛披露事件当周，OraQuick销售额增长了95%（95%置信区间，75 - 117；p < 0.001），并在接下来的4周内持续保持高位（p < 0.05）。在辛披露事件前后，总销售额比预期多8225例，比世界艾滋病日的销售量高出约7倍。此外，网络搜索反映了OraQuick的销售趋势（r = 0.79），表明其能够预示检测量的增加。“查理·辛效应”代表了公共卫生应对的一个重要契机，未来，网络搜索可用于发现更多促进预防行为的机会并采取行动。
