Prevalence of the Use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids in Brazil: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS) is increasing among practitioners of recreational physical activity. The aim of this research was to evaluate the prevalence of AAS in practitioners of recreational physical activity in Brazil. After systematic review of four databases, 14 articles were included. The results indicate that the prevalence of AAS varied between 2.1% and 31.6%, according to the region analyzed and the sample characteristics. The study's limitations are noted.

Keywords :

• anabolic-androgenic steroids
• steroids misuse
• prevalence
• physical activity
• Brazil

THE AUTHORS

Odilon Salim Costa Abrahin, B.A., received his bachelor's degree in Physical Education and is an Exercise Physiology Specialist in Kinesiology, Physical Activity, and Health. He is completing his master's degree program in Physical Activity and Health (Physical Education), Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil. His primary interests include performance-enhancing substances, doping in sport and exercise, anabolic-androgenic steroids, and resistance training in health and disease.

Evitom Corrêa de Sousa, B.A., received his bachelor's degree in Physical Education and is a Specialist in the Scientific Basis of Physical Activity. He is Coordinator of the Laboratory of Resistance Exercise and Health. His primary interests include doping in sport and exercise, anabolic-androgenic steroids, sports nutrition, kinesiology, and resistance training in health and disease.

Azenildo Moura Santos, B.A., Ph.D., received his bachelor's degree in Physical Education and is an exercise Physiology Specialist and Researcher at the Sport Sociology Laboratory, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil. He authored the very first book on anabolic steroids in sports and exercise in Brazil, “O Mundo Anabólico” –in Portuguese. His latest book, “Corpos Anabolizados,” published in 2013, is also in Portuguese. In addition, Santos has authored several chapters on health and physical education. He completed his Ph.D. in Public Health, with an ethnographic approach, at the Public Health Institute (ISC), Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil, where he was awarded a scholarship as a research fellow at the National Council of Scientific and Technologic Development (CNPq), Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil. Santos was also awarded a scholarship as a research fellow from Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Ministry of Education, Brazil, to conduct research in the Sociology Department, at Goldsmiths University of London, United Kingdom. He is a member of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS). The author's primary research interests include performance-enhancing substances, doping in sport and exercise, body image in sports and exercise, sport sociology, psychophysiology phenomenon in sports, sports nutrition, anabolic-androgenic steroids in public health, health promotion, and badminton.

Notes

2 These databases are among the most important and comprehensive indexes of scientific literature in South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

3 A medicinal preparation from the plant Ephedra sinica. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for 5,000 years.