ArticleSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2019
Anabolic-androgenic steroid users receiving health-related information; health problems, motivations to quit and treatment desires.
Article in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of anabolic steroid users seeking support from physicians: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Making 'safer injecting' matter for people who inject image and performance enhancing drugs.Health (London, England : 1997) · 2026Article
- Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: Emerging Use Disorder, Mechanisms of Action, and Clinical Considerations for Pharmacotherapy.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2026Article
- Confidence in Managing Use and Minimising Harm as Mediators of Quality of Life among Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Consumers in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Settings.European addiction research · 2026Article
- Understanding Age-Based Differences in Psychosocial Harms, Physical Harms, and Access Difficulties Among an International Sample of Men Who Use Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids.American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2025Article
- Co-producing a peer-led health conversation tool for the health services workforce to facilitate safer use of anabolic-androgenic steroids.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Acute Myocardial Infarct in a Young Bodybuilder Taking Anabolic Steroids: A Case Report.Cureus · 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
- Managing risks and harms associated with the use of anabolic steroids: a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- "Injecting yourself there is stigma around it; taking a few tablets is not too bad, is it?": understanding perceptions and preferences of anabolic-androgenic steroid route of administration.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Anabolic-androgenic steroid testing as a tool for consumer engagement and harm reduction: a sequential explanatory mixed-method study.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Predicting Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Doping among Specialized Health Care Patients with Elastic Net Regression Reveals Potential Laboratory Variables for "Patient Biological Passport".Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Community pharmacy's role in dispensing androgens and supporting harm reduction amid current policy dilemmas.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2025Article
- Lived experiences of closeness to a person using Anabolic androgenic steroids a next of kin perspective.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2024Article
- Article
- Prediction model for anabolic androgenic steroid positivity in forensic autopsy cases - a new tool to the autopsy room.International journal of legal medicine · 2024Article
- The Use of Anabolic Steroids by Bodybuilders in the State of Sergipe, Brazil.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2024Article
- Sleep pathology and use of anabolic androgen steroids among male weightlifters in Norway.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Notifications and Health Consequences of Unauthorized Pharmaceuticals in Food Supplements.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Clustering psychopathology in male anabolic-androgenic steroid users and nonusing weightlifters.Brain and behavior · 2023Article
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
backgroundAnabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are used to increase muscle strength and improve appearance, but users also carry the risk of developing physical and mental health problems. In Norway, the substance use disorder treatment system provides health care to this patient group, but few AAS users have sought such treatment. Therefore, a service was created to inform AAS users and next of kin of potential negative consequences and their treatment options. This study describes health problems, motivations for AAS cessation, and treatment desires among AAS users.
methodsOver four years, 232 AAS users and 60 next of kin contacted the information service and received an hour-long information session with healthcare personnel. Information about AAS use, physical and mental health problems, substance use, motivation for cessation, and whether the information seeker desired treatment were registered. Qualitative interviews were conducted among seven individuals and analyzed thematically to explore information service experiences.
resultsOf the 232 AAS users, 179 (77.2%) desired treatment after completing the information session and 53 (22.9%) were unsure or did not want treatment. Those who desired treatment were significantly older, had used AAS longer, reported more physical and mental health side effects, and a higher proportion reported having children than those who did not desire treatment. Although 181 (78.0%) reported co-occuring physical and mental health problems, mental health problems were the most common motivation for AAS cessation (n = 108, 47.8%), followed by a combination of mental and physical health problems (52, 23.0%). Findings from qualitative interviews suggest that barriers to treatment may be overcome with an easily accessible service that informs about addiction treatment and facilitates the treatment entry process.
conclusionsHealthcare professionals who encounter users of AAS should have knowledge about AAS use and adverse effects. The desire for health care reveals extensive health problems and the user group is so non-homogeneous that examination and treatment must be adapted individually with focus on physical, mental and social factors as well as possible dependence of AAS and/or psychoactive substances.
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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.