Addictions, King's College London Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, London, UK
Addictions, King's College London Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, London, UK.
BMJ Open. 2022 Jul 4;12(7):e056445. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056445.
To estimate the overall prevalence of androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS) users seeking support from physicians. Secondary objectives are to compare this prevalence in different locations and among subpopulations of AAS users, and to discuss some of the factors that could have influenced the engagement of AAS users with physicians.
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science and SciELO were searched in January 2022.
Quantitative and qualitative studies reporting the number of AAS users who sought support from physicians, with no restrictions of language or time of publication.
Two independent reviewers extracted data and assessed the quality of studies, including publication bias. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate the overall prevalence of AAS users seeking support from physicians, followed by pooled prevalence rates by studies' location and the subpopulation of AAS users.
We identified 36 studies published between 1988 and 2021, involving 10 101 AAS users. The estimated overall prevalence of AAS users seeking support from physicians is 37.12% (95% CI 29.71% to 44.52%). Higher prevalence rates were observed in studies from Australia (67.27%; 95% CI 42.29% to 87.25%) and among clients of the needle and syringe exchange programme (54.13%; 95% CI 36.41% to 71.84%). The lowest prevalence was observed among adolescent AAS users (17.27%; 95% CI 4.80% to 29.74%).
Our findings suggest that about one-third of AAS users seek support from physicians, with remarkable differences between locations and subpopulations of AAS users. Further studies should investigate the factors influencing the engagement of AAS users with physicians.
CRD42020177919.
评估寻求医生支持的雄激素/合成代谢类固醇（AAS）使用者的总体流行率。次要目标是比较不同地点和 AAS 用户亚群中的这种流行率，并讨论一些可能影响 AAS 用户与医生接触的因素。
系统评价和荟萃分析。
2022 年 1 月在 MEDLINE、PsycINFO、Web of Science 和 SciELO 进行了检索。
报告寻求医生支持的 AAS 用户数量的定量和定性研究，无语言或出版时间限制。
两名独立审查员提取数据并评估研究质量，包括发表偏倚。进行随机效应荟萃分析，以估计寻求医生支持的 AAS 用户的总体流行率，然后按研究地点和 AAS 用户亚群进行汇总流行率。
我们确定了 1988 年至 2021 年期间发表的 36 项研究，涉及 10101 名 AAS 用户。寻求医生支持的 AAS 用户的估计总体流行率为 37.12%（95%CI 29.71%至 44.52%）。在来自澳大利亚的研究（67.27%；95%CI 42.29%至 87.25%）和针具交换计划的客户中观察到更高的流行率（54.13%；95%CI 36.41%至 71.84%）。在青少年 AAS 用户中观察到最低的流行率（17.27%；95%CI 4.80%至 29.74%）。
我们的研究结果表明，约三分之一的 AAS 用户寻求医生的支持，在地理位置和 AAS 用户亚群之间存在显著差异。应进一步研究影响 AAS 用户与医生接触的因素。
PROSPERO 注册号：CRD42020177919。
