Investigation of the Prevalence of Anabolic Steroid Misuse, as Well as the Awareness Level and Attitude toward its Negative Effects among the Male Bodybuilder Athletes in Kermanshah, Iran, in 2019

There have been several reports showing that the rate of anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse has increased in athlete and non-athlete adolescents. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of anabolic steroid misuse, as well as the awareness level and attitude toward its negative effects on male bodybuilder athletes in Kermanshah, Iran.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. The statistical population included all male bodybuilder athletes in Kermanshah, Iran. The data were collected using a 25- item self-reported anabolic-androgenic steroids questionnaire (demographic characteristics: n=7, awareness level: n=9, attitudes: n=5, and the prevalence of abuse: n=5) which was distributed using the multi-stage clustering method among 250 male bodybuilder athletes in Kermanshah, Iran. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) through descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean±SD) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient). A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The results indicated that anabolic-androgenic steroid use was prevalent in 65.2% of the subjects. The most common cause was to increase muscle mass and strength. According to the results of this study, the prevalence of androgenic-androgenic steroid use showed a significant inverse relationship with attitude (r=-0.78; P=0.021), awareness (r=-0.73; P=0.032), an education level (r=-0.79; P=0.022). Moreover, sports background correlated significantly with the prevalence of androgenic-androgenic steroid use (r=0.68; P=0.035), attitude (r=0.84; P=0.013), and awareness (r=0.85; P=0.012).

The findings of this study indicated the high dose of anabolic-androgenic steroid use; moreover, the awareness level of the athletes was low in this regard. The low level of awareness, false attitude, and access to these steroids can lead to an increase in the use of them among athletes and different populations. Accordingly, health care professionals and sports specialists should consider these issues in the development of prevention plans and programs.