Ergogenic AIDS use in Iranian adolescents.

Dear Editor-in-Chief

Ergogenic aids such as anabolic steroids use has health risks including harmful changes in cholesterol levels (increased low-density lipoprotein and decreased high-density lipoprotein), acne, high blood pressure, liver damage (mainly with oral steroids), dangerous changes in the structure of the left ventricle of the heart (1, 2). There is limit information about ergogenic aids use in Iranian adolescents. This report is a part of a large study about substance abuse in adolescents that presents prevalence and incidence of ergogenic aids use.

A school-based study was conducted using a random sample of 4907 students from 57 schools in five regions of Tabriz City, northeast of Iran. The students were assessed at 2 time points with a 12-months interval in 2010 and 2011. A self-administered questionnaire that included questions about smoking status, demographic characteristics, and substance abuse including ergogenic aids was used for data collection. More detail about study design, sampling method and questionnaire were presented elsewhere (3).

Out of 4907 sampled students, 4446 students filled in the questionnaires, (response rate=90.6). The mean age of the respondents was 15.7 ± 0.7 years (min. 14, max. 19). One hundred and thirty-seven out of 4446 (3.1%, 95%CI: 2.6–3.6) had ever used ergogenic aids. During one year, among 4309 students without experience of ergogenic aids use, 95 students (2.2%; 95%CI: 1.8–2.7) reported using ergogenic aids. Table 1 shows the prevalence and incidences of ergogenic aids use by gender of students.

Table 1:

Prevalence and incidence of ergogenic aids use in high school students, 2010–2011

	Prevalence				Incidence
Gender	Yes	No	%	CI95%	Yes	No	%	CI95%
Boys	112	1761	6.0	5.0–7.2	84	1677	4.8	3.9–5.9
Girls	25	2548	1.0	0.6–1.4	11	2537	0.4	0.2–0.8
Total	137	4309	3.1	2.6–3.6	95	4214	2.2	1.8–2.7

According to the confidence intervals, the prevalence and incidence in boys were significantly higher than girls were. The results have shown considerable prevalence and incidence of ergogenic aids use, especially in boys, which stresses the necessity of implementing preventive interventions in high school students regarding ergogenic aids use in Iran.