Anabolic steroids and violent crime--an epidemiological study at a jail in Stockholm, Sweden.

Violent crime has been associated with the abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) in several reports. Speculations concerning such associations have been raised with regard to several recent crimes committed in Sweden. To test this hypothetical relationship, individuals in a Stockholm jail who had been arrested for violent crimes were screened for AAS in the urine. No AAS were detected in the urine samples of 50 prisoners who had volunteered for the study. However, 16 prisoners refused to participate. AAS abuse was admitted by two of the participating subjects. Although there is a great need for epidemiological studies to objectively confirm the association of AAS abuse and violence, it seems that such studies will be impossible to conduct as long as they, for legal reasons, depend on voluntary participation.