Short Report
Attitudes towards use of anabolic–androgenic steroids among Ghanaian high school students

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Highlights

  • We investigated prevalence and attitudes towards anabolic steroid (AAS) use in Ghanaian high school students.

  • Lifetime prevalence of AAS use was 3.8%.

  • Female gender, parental absence, religiosity, and jogging had significant positive associations with AAS use attitudes.

  • Participation in martial arts and swimming had significant associations with negative AAS use attitudes.

  • Nonmedical AAS use should be of concern to Ghanaian authorities.

Abstract

Background

This study is a pioneering exploration of nonmedical anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) use among Ghanaian high school students.

Methods

Of 2683 students contacted, 2597 (1412 females) participated in a survey (response rate = 96.8%). Participants (age range = 11–35 years, M = 17.2, SD = 1.4) provided information on demographics, sports participation, and nonmedical AAS use.

Results

The overall lifetime prevalence of use was 3.8% (males = 4.9%, females = 3.1%). Moreover, 18.5% reported having an acquaintance that has used AAS while 6.0% of the sample had previously been offered AAS. However, none of the AAS users provided a valid name of the AAS they had used. Use and intent to use AAS was also significantly higher among males, teenagers (versus over 19-year-olds), athletes (versus recreational sportspeople, and nonathletes), and participants in ball games (versus other sports). Female gender, parental absence, religiosity, and participation in jogging had significant positive association with AAS use attitudes whereas participation in martial arts, and swimming had significant negative association with AAS use attitudes.

Conclusions

The high prevalence of use and intent to use AAS among Ghanaian high school students should be of concern to authorities.

Introduction

The preponderance of nonmedical anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) use research is limited to Western continents although there is emerging evidence of AAS use in non-Western continents (Sagoe, Molde, Andreassen, Torsheim, & Pallesen, 2014a). However, to our knowledge, there has never been an investigation of AAS use among high school students/adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa although studies indicate AAS use is an emerging problem in this region (Ouédraogo et al., 2011, Sagoe et al., 2014a). In combating the problem of AAS use, trends in the prevalence and attitudes towards AAS use need to be monitored worldwide (Sagoe et al., 2014a). The present study is the first to explore AAS use in sub-Saharan African, precisely Ghanaian, adolescents and high school students. Specifically, this study investigated: (a) the prevalence of AAS use, (b) attitudes towards AAS use among males and females, (c) attitudes towards AAS use among athletes, recreational sportspeople, and nonathletes, (d) attitudes towards AAS use among participants of various sporting disciplines, and (e) the correlates of attitudes towards AAS use.

Section snippets

Participants

Ghana has a total of ten regions. Central Region has seventeen ‘districts’ and two were selected for the study: Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly and Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem Municipal Assembly. The two ‘districts’ have seventeen senior high schools and five of them were randomly selected for recruitment. We first contacted 2683 students in the five senior high schools. Of the 2683 students contacted, 2597 (1146 male and 1412 female) participated in a survey yielding a response rate of 96.8%.

Prevalence of AAS use

The lifetime prevalence was 3.8% (95% CI = 3.42–4.18). The prevalence for males was 4.9% (95% CI = 0.56–9.24), and 3.1% (95% CI = 2.0–6.6) for females. In addition, 18.5% (95% CI = 10.07–26.93%) reported personally knowing (a) user(s) of AAS while 6.0% (95% CI = 2.43–8.73%) of the sample had been offered AAS at least once. Prevalence of use for athletes was 4.6% (95% CI = 0.40–8.80). Recreational sportspeople and nonathletes had the same prevalence of use: [recreational sportspeople: 3.0% (95% CI = 

Discussion

The overall and gender-specific prevalence rates of AAS use in this study are comparable to estimates reported in similar studies from America, Australia, Brazil, and South Africa (Sagoe et al., 2014a). Our finding that prevalence of use as well as intent to use AAS for the improvement of sports performance and physique is significantly higher among males corroborates the established position in the field (Sagoe et al., 2014a). Similarly, female gender was significantly related to a negative

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest.

References (12)

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