PMID- 33307930
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20211015
LR  - 20211015
IS  - 1557-9891 (Electronic)
IS  - 1557-9883 (Print)
IS  - 1557-9883 (Linking)
VI  - 14
IP  - 6
DP  - 2020 Nov-Dec
TI  - Characteristics and Attitudes of Men Using Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS): A 
      Survey of 2385 Men.
PG  - 1557988320966536
LID - 10.1177/1557988320966536 [doi]
LID - 1557988320966536
AB  - Additional characterization of patients using anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) 
      is needed to improve harm reduction and cessation resources for patients. Our 
      group sought to expand upon the currently limited data regarding AAS use by 
      performing a web-based survey assessing experiences of males using AAS. 
      Participants included men over the age of 18 with history of AAS use within the 
      past 5 years. Data were collected between August 2019 and April 2020. Primary 
      outcome measures included age when starting AAS, dose of AAS, motivations for 
      use, experiences with health-care professionals, and rate of successful 
      cessation. The survey was accessed 3640 times, resulting in 2385 completed 
      surveys meeting the inclusion criteria (68.93% participation rate).Average 
      participant age was 31.69 +/- 10.09 years. Over half of respondents were from the 
      United States (n = 1271, 53.3%). Motives to use AAS included improving appearance 
      (n = 1959, 82.2%), strength gain (n = 1192, 50%), and self-esteem/body image 
      issues (n = 712, 29.87%). Participants rated physicians poorly, regarding 
      knowledge of AAS (4.08 +/- 2.23). Most participants did not reveal AAS use to their 
      health-care providers (n = 1338, 56.1%); of those that did, 55.30% (n = 579) 
      reported feeling discriminated against for their use. Of 46.16% (n = 1101) 
      attempting AAS cessation, 60.22% (n = 663) were unsuccessful. Challenges in the 
      management of AAS use include early onset of use, supraphysiologic doses used, 
      and frequently present body image disorders stress. Distrust of health-care 
      providers, poor cessation rates, and lack of physician training further 
      exacerbate this. These findings should serve to reinforce previous calls to 
      action for further research on the treatment of AAS use disorder.
FAU - Bonnecaze, Alex K
AU  - Bonnecaze AK
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-9642-7222
AD  - School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Endocrinology and 
      Metabolism, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
FAU - O'Connor, Thomas
AU  - O'Connor T
AD  - Department of Internal Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, 
      Farmington, CT, USA.
FAU - Aloi, Joseph A
AU  - Aloi JA
AD  - School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Endocrinology and 
      Metabolism, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - Am J Mens Health
JT  - American journal of men's health
JID - 101287723
RN  - 0 (Anabolic Agents)
RN  - 0 (Androgens)
RN  - 0 (Steroids)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - *Anabolic Agents
MH  - Androgens
MH  - Attitude
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Steroids
MH  - *Substance-Related Disorders
MH  - Surveys and Questionnaires
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC7739101
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - anabolic androgenic steroids
OT  - anabolic steroid use
OT  - androgen abuse
COIS- Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared the following 
      potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or 
      publication of this article: Alex K Bonnecaze and Joseph A Aloi have no 
      disclosures or COI to disclose. Thomas O' Connor owns and operates an internal 
      medicine private practice based out of Essex, CT, and has written a book on the 
      health consequences of androgen misuse.
EDAT- 2020/12/15 06:00
MHDA- 2021/10/16 06:00
PMCR- 2020/12/14
CRDT- 2020/12/14 09:49
PHST- 2020/12/14 09:49 [entrez]
PHST- 2020/12/15 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/10/16 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2020/12/14 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1177_1557988320966536 [pii]
AID - 10.1177/1557988320966536 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Am J Mens Health. 2020 Nov-Dec;14(6):1557988320966536. doi: 
      10.1177/1557988320966536.