The modes of administration of anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users: are non-injecting people who use steroids overlooked?

Abstract

Introduction: There is increasing public health concern about the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). Understanding of drug use patterns and practices is important if we are to develop appropriate risk-reduction interventions. Yet, much remains unclear about the modes of administration adopted by AAS users.Methods: We used data from a sub-sample of participants from the Global Drug Survey 2015; males who reported using injectable or oral AAS in their lifetime (n = 1008).Results: Amongst our sample, approximately one third (35.62%) reported using only injectable AAS during their lifetime while 35.84% reported using only oral, with less than one third (28.54%) using both.Conclusion: These findings suggest there may be a sub-population of individuals who only use AAS orally. Needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) are currently the primary point of health service engagement; forming the main healthcare environment for medical and harm reduction advice on steroids. Yet, NSP-based resources are unlikely to reach or be appropriate to those who do not inject AAS. While there is a general need for health services to be more accessible when it comes to AAS use, non-injectors are an overlooked group that require attention.