The epidemiology of anabolic-androgenic steroids use among secondary students (Valencia-Spain)

Abstract

AbstractBackground/Aims: The consumption of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) is continuously growing in recent years among young people. The purpose of the current study was to examine the proportion of students who reported AAS use, explore other drug use among them and finally to determine the sociodemographic profile of the AAS consumption amongst a sample of students in the Valencian Region (Spain).Methods: Data was taken from a self-administrated survey of a representative sample of 11,162 Valencian students. A total of 252 schools participated in the study. In this group, 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female, with a median age of 16.26 years (DT= 1.33).Results: The 3,3% of surveyed students reported that they had consumed AAS. Males reported to take anabolic more frequently than females (86,2% of males, 13,8% of females; p<0.001). The older they are the more frequent the reporting of consumption -increasing from 2.5% in those aged 14, to 4.3% in those aged 18-. Among users of AAS it exists a higher prevalence of consumption of cannabis 64.2%, cocaine 23.8%, hypnotics 22.9%, ecstasy 16.8%, LSD 14% or heroine 4.1%, compare to nonusers.Conclusion: The study shows that the consumption of steroids is mainly masculine, a clear association with polyconsumption, frequent scheming as the main source of getting them and that the consumption of these substances is bigger between those students whose family situation is characterized by the absence of a masculine figure (single mother or widow) in comparison with those whose parents are married.