PMID- 29560159
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20220409
IS  - 2008-5842 (Print)
IS  - 2008-5842 (Electronic)
IS  - 2008-5842 (Linking)
VI  - 9
IP  - 12
DP  - 2017 Dec
TI  - Prevalence and awareness of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) among gymnasts in 
      the western province of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
PG  - 6050-6057
LID - 10.19082/6050 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are synthetic derivatives of the 
      male sex hormone (testosterone) that are increasingly used by athletes as 
      performance enhancing drugs to increase muscle mass and strength. Multiple health 
      adverse effects may be caused by its non-medical use. Several international and 
      regional studies showed the high prevalence of AAS usage and low level of 
      awareness of it among different populations. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the 
      prevalence of AAS and to determine the level of awareness toward it among 
      gymnasts in the western province of Riyadh. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey 
      was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire distributed on 400 male 
      gymnasts from 10 different fitness centers which have been chosen randomly from 
      23 centers in the western province of Riyadh city (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) 
      during 2016. Data analysis was performed by SPSS version 21, using descriptive 
      statistics and Chi-square test. RESULTS: Among the 400 gymnasts who participated 
      in the survey, a total of n=363 questionnaires were received completed. Of the 
      responders, (n=89) were AAS users with a percentage 24.50%. The testosterone was 
      the most commonly used type followed by Methandrostenolone then Stanozolol. The 
      major sources for obtaining AAS were online shopping (45%) and gym-coach (22.5%). 
      Regarding awareness, 74% of AAS users had an inadequate perception about AAS 
      concept versus 55% of non-users with no significant difference (p=0.076). In 
      addition, 82% of AAS users and 83% of non-users had inadequate knowledge of AAS 
      adverse effects with no significant difference between the two categories 
      (p=0.087). CONCLUSION: The usage of AAS is high amongst gymnasts in the western 
      province of Riyadh city considering they are prohibited. The level of awareness 
      toward AAS is low among most gymnasts. We recommend for educational programs to 
      be established in order to increase public awareness, in addition to a tightening 
      of control by the responsible authorities over the sources of AAS procurement.
FAU - Al Bishi, Khaled Abdullah
AU  - Al Bishi KA
AD  - M.B.B.S, Resident in Saudi Board of Family Medicine, Prince Sultan Military 
      Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
FAU - Afify, Ayman
AU  - Afify A
AD  - Consultant Family Medicine and EBM, MRCGP. Educ. Certify, Dundee University, 
      United Kingdom.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20171225
PL  - Iran
TA  - Electron Physician
JT  - Electronic physician
JID - 101645099
PMC - PMC5843433
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - AAS
OT  - Androgens
OT  - Gymnastics
OT  - Performance enhancing drugs
OT  - Substance abuse
OT  - Synthetic
COIS- Conflict of Interest: There is no conflict of interest to be declared.
EDAT- 2018/03/22 06:00
MHDA- 2018/03/22 06:01
PMCR- 2017/12/25
CRDT- 2018/03/22 06:00
PHST- 2017/08/06 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2017/10/22 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2018/03/22 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2018/03/22 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2018/03/22 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2017/12/25 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - epj-09-6050 [pii]
AID - 10.19082/6050 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Electron Physician. 2017 Dec 25;9(12):6050-6057. doi: 10.19082/6050. eCollection 
      2017 Dec.