When a celebrity contracts a disease: the example of Earvin "Magic" Johnson's announcement that he was HIV positive.

This meta-analysis summarizes the available data concerning the impact that the public announcement that Earvin "Magic" Johnson, a National Basketball Association All-Star, had tested positive for HIV. The results demonstrate that the announcement increased the level of accurate knowledge in persons, the number of persons getting tested for HIV, and the desire to obtain more information about HIV and AIDS. For adults the impact of the announcement was to increase the perception of vulnerability while for children/adolescents the announcement diminished the perception of risk.