Naturalistic observation of athletic drug-use patterns and behavior in professional-caliber bodybuilders.

Athletic performance-enhancing drug use is widespread. Awareness in the medical community lags because various athletic subcultures have not been penetrated by conventional medical literature. This report presents a current and comprehensive assessment of drugs used by professional-caliber bodybuilders to enhance athletic performance. The scale of drug use documented significantly exceeds all previous reports from athletic populations and indicates that this group is at significant risk for use. Drug-use patterns and behavior encompass multiple domestic, foreign, and veterinary agents to create "successful" training programs. The presence of interathlete and intersport communication at amateur and professional levels creates a wide application for this information in athletic settings. Since use may not be limited to the competitive athlete, a heightened awareness will aid practitioners in correlating clinical observations with accurate athletic drug-use information.