Background Because adolescent users of anabolic steroids areconcerned with increasing muscle size and strength, they maybe unique among substance users and unlikely to use other drugs.Alternatively, if the factors that cause the use of anabolicsteroids are similar to those associated with the use of othersubstances, adolescents who use anabolic steroids would be expectedto report use of other drugs as well.
Methods We administered a questionnaire based on the 1989 SecondarySchool Health Risk Survey and the 1990 Youth Risk Behavior Surveyof the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to 1881 studentsenrolled in compulsory health-science classes (mean [±SD]age, 14.9 ±1.0 years) in the Richmond County, Georgia,school system.
Results A higher percentage of boys (6.5 percent) than girls(1.9 percent, P 0.001) reported using anabolic steroids withouta doctor's prescription. Among ninth-grade students, 5.4 percentof boys and 1.5 percent of girls reported using anabolic steroids(P 0.001). Among users of anabolic steroids, 25 percent reportedsharing needles to inject drugs. The frequency of anabolic-steroiduse was significantly (P<0.001) associated with the frequencyof use in the previous 30 days of cocaine (r = 0.44), injectabledrugs, alcohol (r = 0.23), marijuana (r = 0.42), cigarettes(r = 0.25), and smokeless tobacco (r = 0.40). On the basis ofmultiple regression analysis, the use of marijuana, shared needles,smokeless tobacco, and cocaine accounted for 33 percent of thevariation in anabolic-steroid use among the ninth-grade students.
Conclusions In our study, adolescent users of anabolic steroidswere likely to use other drugs as well, and many were sharingneedles.
Source Information
From the Departments of Pediatrics (R.H.D., G.S.) and Internal Medicine (C.N.), Medical College of Georgia, Augusta; the Department of Pediatrics, Arkansas Children's Hospital, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock (V.I.R.); and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham (C.S.A.).
Address reprint requests to Dr. DuRant at the Section of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, CE-112, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912.
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