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Anabolic steroid users' misuse of non-traditional prescription drugs
Eric J Ip1, Shadi Doroudgar2, Bonnie Lau3
1Department of Clinical Sciences, Touro University California College of Pharmacy, 1310 Club Drive, Vallejo, CA 94592, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Mountain View Medical Offices, 555 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041, USA; Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Background:
Few anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users disclose their performance enhancing drug (PED) use with their healthcare providers. AAS users practice polypharmacy with prescription medications to counter adverse effects of AAS, to further their muscular gains, or to lose weight.
Objectives:
To compare and contrast AAS using and non-AAS using gym clients regarding PED use, in particular prescription drugs.
Methods:
The CASTRO (Castro Anabolic Steroid Research Observation) study was a 108-item cross-sectional survey that took place at four gyms in San Francisco, California between August 2015 and January 2016. 40 AAS users and 179 non-AAS users completed the survey.
Results:
The prevalence of AAS use in the study cohort was 18.3%. AAS users reported using a greater number of total PEDs (8.7 ± 4.2 vs. 3.7 ± 2.1, p < 0.001) than non-AAS users. AAS users were more likely to misuse the following prescription drugs: antiestrogens (tamoxifen, anastrazole), fertility agents (clomiphene, human chorionic gonadotropin), erectile dysfunction drugs (tadalafil, sildenafil), anabolic drugs (clenbuterol, recombinant human growth hormone), and weight loss drugs (liothyronine).
Conclusions:
AAS users practice polypharmacy and misuse multiple prescription drugs. These findings allow researchers and clinicians to be more knowledgeable and to anticipate potential misuse of prescription medications that traditionally are not thought to be abused.