The Prevalence and Characteristics of Performance-Enhancing Drug Use Among Bodybuilding Athletes in the South of Iran, Bushehr

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral reports have implied progressive increase of performance-enhancing drug (PED) use among Iranian athletes. More importantly, most of the previous research in the Iranian population had mainly focused on the anabolic steroid abuse, and ignored other agents.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of PED use among bodybuilding athletes in Bushehr, south of Iran.MethodsFour hundred and fifty three male bodybuilding athletes were recruited from Bushehr gyms between February and May of 2015. Men were eligible to participate in the survey if they had regularly participated in the strength-training exercise (minimum of 1 year and 4 hour/week). Data were collected via a face-to-face interview. The survey consisted of three separate parts including demographic data, exercise pattern and PED use.ResultsAccording to this study, 234 (51.7%) of bodybuilding athletes had used PEDs. The PED users reported an average of 3.80 ± 4.52 agents’ use in their programs and they had used PEDs for the average of 3.24 ± 3.99 years. The most prevalent agents which had been abused by the athletes were anabolic steroids (used by 185 athletes (79.4% of athletes). Furthermore, 110 (47%) of athletes reported stimulant agents’ use during their routines. The most prevalent motivation for using PEDs was increasing muscle mass that was reported by 164 (70.1%) of PED users. In addition, sexual and dermatologic effects were the most prevalent adverse effects reported by the PED user athletes (114 (49.4%) and 103 (44.2%), respectively).ConclusionsThis study showed the high rate of PED use among recreational and professional Iranian bodybuilding athletes that can expose them to the serious side effects of these agents.

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: a Scoping Review of Extant Empirical Literature

“…We included published empirical records on AAS from searches in the twenty-one countries located in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The types of records included were survey studies in Saudi Arabia (Al Bishi and Afify 2017; Al Al Nozha and Elshatarat 2017;Alharbi et al 2019;Althobiti et al 2018;Bahri et al 2017;Jabari et al 2016), United Arab Emirates , Kuwait Alsaeed and Alabkal 2015;Khullar et al 2016), Iran (Allahverdipour et al 2012;Angoorani and Halabchi 2015;Asr et al 2018;Bordbar et al 2014;Fijan et al 2018;Haerinejad et al 2016;Jalilian et al 2011;Kargarfard et al 2015;Mohammad 2014;Nakhaee et al 2013;Razavi et al 2014;Rezaei 2017;Saeidinejat et al 2017;Sepehri et al 2009;Sobhanian et al 2013), Iraq Habeeb et al 2012), Lebanon Melki et al 2015), Jordan Wazaify et al 2014), Pakistan Uddin et al 2019;Zafar et al 2018), and Sudan (Khidir and Mahmoud 2018); and conference proceedings from Bahrain ) (see Table 2). Correlational study.…”

“…The adverse effects of AAS use were not investigated by all studies, with twenty-four papers not reporting on these effects. Self-reported effects by the remaining studies in Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Jordan were aggression, depression, sexual problems, increased appetite, acne, hair loss, gynecomastia, mood changes, fluid retention, headaches, increased hair growth, cardiovascular problems, psychiatric issues, and hepatic and renal damage Alsamani et al 2017;Althobiti et al 2018;Bahri et al 2017;Haerinejad et al 2016;Hussain et al 2018;Razavi et al 2014;Tahtamouni et al 2008;Uddin et al 2019;Wazaify et al 2014). The study by Habeeb et al (2012) stated that most AAS users reported the use of only dietary supplements initially, but on recommendation of others, initiated the use of AAS to improve performance.…”

“…Less than half of the participants of the study by Al-Falasi et al (2008) in the United Arab Emirates had any knowledge of either physical or psychological adverse effects A high number of participants of the study by Alharbi et al (2019) in Saudi Arabia answered 'I don't know' when also asked about their awareness of these adverse effects. Haerinejad et al (2016) reported that the majority of participants had no knowledge of adverse effects prior to use. One study reported that although users (n = 16) had knowledge of adverse effects, they continued to use AAS .…”

Novel Kidney Injury Biomarkers Among Anabolic Androgenic Steroids Users - Evidence of Subclinical Kidney Disease

“…Most stimulants have caffeine and are used almost daily due to severe requirements during training, and the long-term effects of these substances are yet not completely known (14). Previous studies show that a great part of AAS users combine different steroids, usually in higher doses than normally recommended and for a longer time (2,15), which makes research in this field important to better know the effects of this practice. The most used substances are nandrolone and testosterone, probably due to their low cost (16).…”

“…The use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) among physical activity practitioners has increased in the last years, and it is associated with body image disorders and clinical complications, including kidney disease (1)(2)(3). In Brazil, the estimated prevalence of AAS use among recreational physical activity practitioners varies from 2.1% to 31.6% (4).…”