Medical Sciences
Anabolic–Androgenic Steroid Use, All-Cause Mortality, and Major Cardiovascular Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
By Ma Lourdes del Río Solá, Juan Manuel Barroso y Martín and Alejandro Santos‐Lozano.
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Non-medical anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use has been associated with adverse cardiac remodelling, but the magnitude of excess all-cause mortality and the cardiac phenotype of former users remain incompletely defined.
Methods
We systematically reviewed studies reporting mortality, major cardiovascular outcomes, or cardiac function after cessation in AAS-exposed individuals. All-cause mortality was pooled from comparative cohorts with individually ascertained exposure using random-effects models; global longitudinal strain (GLS) and left ventricular ejection fraction in former users were pooled as mean differences. Risk of bias was assessed with ROBINS-E and certainty with GRADE.