Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The motivation for the use of AAS by men engaged in recreational activities is the improvement of body composition and strength indicators. A deterrent to the use of AAS can be awareness of the side effects of their use, in particular the development of secondary hypogonadism.

Aim: To study the awareness of AAS users about the negative impact of this class of drugs on the body.

Methods: An individual anonymous correspondence questionnaire was conducted for men in gym. We studied information about the use of AAS, the attitude to use of AAS, awareness of the side effects of their use, patterns and duration of their use, the desire of respondents to obtain reliable information about steroids and their effects on health.

Results: 762 questionnaires were provided for the assessment. 550 questionnaires were met the criteria. AAS was used by 30.4% of respondents (n=167). The main consumers of AAS were men aged 22 to 35 years old - 74.3%. The most common drugs were Testosterone propionate (51.5%). The most common dosage of injectable testosterone was 1000 mg per week (23.9%). The use of AAS over 9 months was indicated by 11% (n=19) of men. The main source of information on AAS was indicated by the Internet (48.7%). A negative attitude towards AAS was formed by 17.3% of respondents. 69.3% (n=381) of respondents gave a positive answer to the question about awareness about AAS, 30.7% - negative (n=169). Almost all respondents using AAS indicated that they have information on AAS - 96.4% (n=161). In the group of non-AAS users, the majority of respondents are informed about AAS - 57.4% (n=220), 42.6% (n=163) are not informed. Among all respondents to a clarifying question about awareness of side effects and complications of using AAS, an affirmative answer was 73.8% (n=406), negative - 26.2% (n=144). AAS users are more aware of AAS (χ²=82.954, P<0.001) and their side effects (χ²=70,207, P<0.001) compared to non-users. 22% (n=121) of the respondents were not informed with the side effects of steroids. 54.8% respondents expressed desire to receive qualified information about the AAS.

Conclusion: The survey data indicates a high awareness of the side effects of using AAS, which, surprisingly, does not lead to the conscious abandonment of their use by people engaged in recreational activity. However, a significant percentage of those wishing to receive qualified information about the dangers of steroids gives hope that the information can still become the main tool in limiting the use of doping drugs.