ANABOLIC-STEROIDS AND VIOLENT CRIME - AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY AT A JAIL IN STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

Violent crime has been associated with the abuse of anabolic-androgeni c steroids (AAS) in several reports. Speculations concerning such asso ciations have been raised with regard to several recent crimes committ ed 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 re fused to participate. AAS abuse was admitted by two of the participati ng subjects. Although there is a great need for epidemiological studie s 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. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.