ArticleAmerican journal of men's health2018
The Availability and Acquisition of Illicit Anabolic Androgenic Steroids and Testosterone Preparations on the Internet.
Article in American journal of men's health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fake anabolic androgenic steroids on the black market - a systematic review and meta-analysis on qualitative and quantitative analytical results found within the literature.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- Management of non-medical androgen use: a position statement by the Society for Endocrinology.Endocrine connections · 2026Article
- Poisoning with Thyroid Hormones Used Illegally-Systematic Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Association Between Long-Term Testosterone Exposure and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Aging Men.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2025Article
- Best Practice Guidance for Male Individuals Using Anabolic Androgenic Steroids in Recreational Sports Within Primary Care: Protocol for a Modified Delphi Consensus Study.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Evaluation of implementing drug checking services for anabolic androgenic steroids in Switzerland: a pilot study.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Steroid-Induced Cardiomyopathy: Insights From a Systematic Literature Review and a Case Report.Clinical case reports · 2025Article
- The dichotomy between health and drug abuse in bodybuilding.Nordisk alkohol- & narkotikatidskrift : NAT · 2024Article
- Coagulation profiles during and after anabolic androgenic steroid use: data from the HAARLEM study.Research and practice in thrombosis and haemostasis · 2023Article
- Anabolic androgenic steroids and cardiomyopathy: an update.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2023Review
- Anabolic androgenic steroids used as performance and image enhancing drugs in professional and amateur athletes: Toxicological and psychopathological findings.Human psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- Falsified Drugs in the Opinion of Patients Diagnosed with Cardiovascular Diseases-Nationwide and Cross-Sectional Study on the Example of EU-Member Country.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Male Strength Athletes Who Use Non-prescribed Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- A review of the evolving landscape between the consumer Internet and men's health.Translational andrology and urology · 2020Review
- Interpol review of controlled substances 2016-2019.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2020Review
- Cutaneous Side Effects of Sports Supplements.Indian dermatology online journalArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The lifetime prevalence of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) use in the United States is over 1%. Recent reports have suggested AAS can easily be obtained over the Internet without a prescription, but this has been poorly studied. This study focused on determining the availability and ease of purchase for AAS, testosterone, and other non-AAS therapies on the Internet from the perspective of a typical consumer. A Google search was performed and the top-ranking sites offering AAS for sale were individually evaluated for selection of AAS offered, the purchasing process, and additional consumer information to support AAS use. The current results revealed that 87% of sites offered commonly used forms of AAS, injectable testosterone, and non-AAS hormone therapies. Seventy-five percent offered at least one postcycle recovery agent and 62% offered at least one erectile dysfunction medication. No site required a prescription for purchase of any substance, 75% accepted common forms of payment including credit card, and all sites were supplied by unregulated international pharmacies providing shipment to home addresses with disclaimers that consumers are liable to local laws. Seventy-five percent of sites provided specific cycle and stacking recommendations, 62% provided postcycle recovery information, but only one site offered information on non-AAS alternatives. In conclusion, AAS, injectable testosterone, and other non-AAS therapies are readily available and remarkably easy to purchase on the Internet without a prescription. It is of paramount importance that clinicians are aware of this considerable public health problem given the detrimental physiologic effects including infertility and sexual dysfunction.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.