Endocrine Abstracts

Background and Aim: Use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has moved from elite sports to the broader population. Studies suggest that AAS cessation is often associated with immediate various AAS withdrawal and hypogonadal symptoms. Quality of life using a standardized questionnaire has never been assessed in AAS users. The Short-Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire is a highly validated and used instrument for assessment of quality of life. The questionnaire consists of a total eight subcategories divided into four physical health categories and four mental health categories. The objective of this study was to assess quality of life in current and previous illicit AAS users compared with healthy control participants who had never used AAS.

Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study including men involved in recreational strength training. SF-36 questionnaire was completed, history of AAS use was obtained using a standardized questionnaire and blood was drawn for measurement of serum total testosterone using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry.

Results: We included 89 current and 61 former AAS users and 30 healthy age-matched never users, as controls. The mean (SD) age of all participants was 34 (8) years. Accumulated duration of AAS use, was 163 (127;208) weeks among current users and 104 (78;138) weeks among former users, (P= 0.019). Duration since AAS cessation, was 50 (33;68) months and 45 (74%) former AAS users discontinued AAS use more than one year prior to inclusion. Previous AAS users displayed impaired quality of life on all eight SF-36 subcategories compared with the never users (P<0.001). Ongoing AAS users perceived their general health as impaired and displayed decreased social functioning compared with healthy controls (P<0.05), while quality of life did not differ between the two groups with respect to the other six categories. Mean (SD) serum testosterone was lower in previous AAS users 14 (6) nmol/l compared with healthy controls 19 (5) nmol/l (P=0,0002). In age-adjusted analyses of covariance, among former AAS users and non-AAS users, lower serum total testosterone levels were associated with impaired quality of life in all SF-36 subcategories, except bodily pain (P<0.05). The SF-36 score were not associated with accumulated duration of AAS use among current and former AAS users.

Conclusions: Previous AAS users exhibited impaired quality of life on all physical and mental health parameters years after AAS discontinuation, which may be related to lower serum testosterone levels in this group compared with non-users.