03/09/2025
💡💡💡 We are thrilled to present our new research protocol, designed to establish best practice guidance for healthcare professionals caring for individuals who use anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) in recreational sports in Switzerland.
⚠️ The nonmedical use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AASs) and other image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs) for optimizing personal esthetic goals and improving sports performance represents a global substance use concerns.
👀In Switzerland, the use of anabolic agents appears to be widespread, with an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 users that have ever used these substances. IPEDs can easily be acquired from unregulated drug markets.
‼️Acute and long-term complications of AAS use can be complex, potentially severe, and life-threatening, affecting all levels of health (ie, physical, mental, and social health).
⏳There is an urgent necessity for best practice guidance for health care professionals providing medical care to individuals engaging in the nonmedical use of AASs.
🤝Together with the Institute of Primary Care at the University of Zurich, we will carry out this project, applying the Delphi consensus method to build agreement among primary care experts.
🧠🧠🧠 Key aspects:
👉Collaborating with healthcare experts: We are making use of collective intelligence to find consensus on relevant and feasible measures for primary care.
👉Comprehensive approach: Our mixed-method approach incorporates literature reviews, medical expertise, peer involvement and expert discussions.
👉The importance of closing the treatment gap: The resulting best practice guidance aims to provide comprehensive medical care and harm-reduction strategies for AAS users.
♥️We remain committed to optimizing care for people who use AAS, particularly by seeking consensus among primary care health professionals. A heartfelt thank you to our co-authors and the Sport & Exercise Medicine Switzerland for their invaluable support and funding of this project.
https://arud.ch/assets/docs/Forschung/Magnolini-et-al-Delphi-Protocoll-2025.pdf?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_po03q4jst8