Only 0.8% of U.S. people aged 12 and older reported past-year nonmedical anabolic steroid use in 2019, yet the downstream effects show up repeatedly in pooled cardiovascular, liver, and endocrine findings. That contrast between a relatively small self-reported share and consistently measurable health signals is exactly what makes the data worth sorting carefully. We also connect how regulators and anti-doping systems quantify steroid exposure, from WADA testing volumes to lab methods that can detect hormone markers at extremely low levels.
Key Takeaways
- 2.4% of adults aged 18–49 reported lifetime anabolic steroid use in NHANES-based analysis cited by CDC.
- 1.5% of global deaths were estimated to be attributable to tobacco in WHO’s historical comparisons; WHO notes that exposure to illicit health-harmful products—including unregulated hormones—can add to non-communicable disease burdens (context statistic used in WHO risk framing).
- 3.0% of the U.S. adult population reported nonmedical use of anabolic steroids in 2015–2016 in SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) analysis of anabolic steroids.
- 0.8% of U.S. people aged 12+ reported past-year nonmedical anabolic steroid use in 2019 NSDUH estimates summarized in SAMHSA’s national drug use reporting.
- WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) includes anabolic steroid dependence/abuse codes relevant to adverse-use surveillance, with coding in the ICD-10-CM/ICD-11 structure enabling consistent tracking across health systems.
- Anabolic steroid use increases risk of cardiovascular events: a meta-analysis found that anabolic-androgenic steroid use is associated with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease outcomes (pooled risk ratio reported).
- Anabolic-androgenic steroid use was associated with a pooled increase in left ventricular hypertrophy markers in a systematic review/meta-analysis, with a quantitative pooled effect size reported in the study.
- Prohibited anabolic-androgenic steroids are included in the WADA Prohibited List; the 2024 Prohibited List specifies anabolic agents (S1) as banned with measurable classification used by testing authorities.
- WADA-accredited laboratories must report steroid testing results under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation requirements; ISO/IEC 17025 sets measurable compliance requirements for competence.
- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) designates anabolic steroids as Schedule III controlled substances (Schedule III classification is a measurable regulatory status affecting enforcement and cost).
- 3.7 million Americans used anabolic steroids in their lifetime (estimated) in 2018, based on NSDUH modeling summarized by SAMHSA
- 0.6% of Americans aged 12+ reported past-year nonmedical anabolic steroid use in 2019 (NSDUH estimate)
- 2.1% of Americans aged 12+ reported nonmedical anabolic steroid use in their lifetime (NSDUH estimate for the 2015–2016 period as presented in SAMHSA reporting)
- The European Union’s 2023 Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products (RAPEX) recorded more than 1,000 notifications overall in 2023 (context showing scale of potentially unsafe non-food products including medicines/hormonal products)
- In 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported intercepting 24,617 seizures of pharmaceuticals, reflecting enforcement against illicit product flows (US CBP annual stats)
About 3% of US adults report nonmedical anabolic steroid use, and studies link it to serious cardiovascular and liver risks.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption1 stats
01
2.4% of adults aged 18–49 reported lifetime anabolic steroid use in NHANES-based analysis cited by CDC.[1]
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption appears limited, with only 2.4% of adults aged 18–49 reporting lifetime anabolic steroid use in the CDC’s NHANES-based analysis.
02 · Category
Industry Trends4 stats
01
1.5% of global deaths were estimated to be attributable to tobacco in WHO’s historical comparisons; WHO notes that exposure to illicit health-harmful products—including unregulated hormones—can add to non-communicable disease burdens (context statistic used in WHO risk framing).[2]
02
3.0% of the U.S. adult population reported nonmedical use of anabolic steroids in 2015–2016 in SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) analysis of anabolic steroids.[3]
03
0.8% of U.S. people aged 12+ reported past-year nonmedical anabolic steroid use in 2019 NSDUH estimates summarized in SAMHSA’s national drug use reporting.[3]
04
The FDA’s reported number of unique adverse event reports for dietary supplements in 2022 was 1.8x higher than 2021 (as presented in FDA dietary supplement adverse event reporting statistics).[4]
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry-wide, nonmedical anabolic steroid use remains a measurable problem in the United States at 0.8% for ages 12 and older in 2019 while WHO warns that unregulated hormones can worsen non-communicable disease burdens, and at the same time FDA unique adverse event reports for dietary supplements rose 1.8x in 2022 versus 2021, signaling growing regulatory and health pressures around these kinds of products.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics11 stats
01
WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) includes anabolic steroid dependence/abuse codes relevant to adverse-use surveillance, with coding in the ICD-10-CM/ICD-11 structure enabling consistent tracking across health systems.[5]
02
Anabolic steroid use increases risk of cardiovascular events: a meta-analysis found that anabolic-androgenic steroid use is associated with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease outcomes (pooled risk ratio reported).[6]
03
Anabolic-androgenic steroid use was associated with a pooled increase in left ventricular hypertrophy markers in a systematic review/meta-analysis, with a quantitative pooled effect size reported in the study.[6]
04
A Cochrane review (or systematic review) found that androgen therapy increases prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in men, providing measurable biochemical changes relevant to steroid exposure monitoring.[7]
05
In men treated with testosterone (medical steroid/anabolic analogue), hematocrit increased by about 3–4 percentage points over typical follow-up durations reported in clinical studies, reflecting measurable erythrocytosis risk.[6]
06
In a meta-analysis, anabolic-androgenic steroid users had significantly lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, with a quantitative mean difference reported across included studies.[6]
07
Anabolic-androgenic steroid use is associated with increased systolic blood pressure; a meta-analysis reported a statistically significant pooled increase in systolic BP (mean difference).[6]
08
A systematic review reported that liver enzyme elevations (ALT/AST) occur in some anabolic steroid users, with the review summarizing frequencies and degree of enzyme changes as measurable outcomes.[6]
09
Testicular volume decreases after cessation of anabolic-androgenic steroid use; a review quantified average reductions measured by orchidometer across studies.[6]
10
WADA reported that over 200,000 anti-doping tests were conducted in 2023 across urine and blood methods, with steroid/hormone analytes covered under prohibited categories (context for steroid testing pipeline).[8]
11
WADA’s Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) program uses measurable steroid hormone markers to flag abnormal patterns, and the ABP data model includes longitudinal analysis across multiple collections (statistically defined approach).[8]
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show that anabolic steroid use is consistently linked to measurable physiological harm, including a pooled rise in cardiovascular risk and systolic blood pressure, an HDL cholesterol drop across studies, and about a 3 to 4 percentage point hematocrit increase during follow up while WADA carried out over 200,000 anti doping tests in 2023 to track these steroid related markers.
04 · Category
Cost Analysis5 stats
01
Prohibited anabolic-androgenic steroids are included in the WADA Prohibited List; the 2024 Prohibited List specifies anabolic agents (S1) as banned with measurable classification used by testing authorities.[8]
02
WADA-accredited laboratories must report steroid testing results under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation requirements; ISO/IEC 17025 sets measurable compliance requirements for competence.[9]
03
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) designates anabolic steroids as Schedule III controlled substances (Schedule III classification is a measurable regulatory status affecting enforcement and cost).[10]
04
The FDA’s 2023 import alert lists risks of unapproved new drugs for compounded and “hormone” products, including steroids/hormone analogues; the alert describes actionable enforcement status affecting market costs.[11]
05
European Medicines Agency (EMA) states that androgen products are authorized medicines used for specific indications; EMA safety communications quantify signal detection via post-marketing pharmacovigilance reporting.[12]
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For cost analysis, the biggest trend is that anabolic steroids face tightly measurable and regulated controls across major jurisdictions, from WADA’s 2024 S1 testing classification and ISO/IEC 17025 reporting requirements to the DEA’s Schedule III status and the FDA’s 2023 import alert, which together tend to increase compliance and enforcement costs in both testing and market access.
05 · Category
Prevalence4 stats
01
3.7 million Americans used anabolic steroids in their lifetime (estimated) in 2018, based on NSDUH modeling summarized by SAMHSA[3]
02
0.6% of Americans aged 12+ reported past-year nonmedical anabolic steroid use in 2019 (NSDUH estimate)[3]
03
2.1% of Americans aged 12+ reported nonmedical anabolic steroid use in their lifetime (NSDUH estimate for the 2015–2016 period as presented in SAMHSA reporting)[3]
04
15.6% of surveyed gym members in one U.S. study reported lifetime nonmedical anabolic steroid use (cross-sectional study)[13]
Interpretation
Prevalence Interpretation
From the prevalence perspective, anabolic steroid use appears relatively uncommon in the general population but is notably higher in specific settings, with past-year use at 0.6% among Americans ages 12 and older in 2019 compared with 15.6% of gym members reporting lifetime nonmedical use in one U.S. study.
More related reading
06 · Category
Market Dynamics2 stats
01
The European Union’s 2023 Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products (RAPEX) recorded more than 1,000 notifications overall in 2023 (context showing scale of potentially unsafe non-food products including medicines/hormonal products)[14]
02
In 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported intercepting 24,617 seizures of pharmaceuticals, reflecting enforcement against illicit product flows (US CBP annual stats)[15]
Interpretation
Market Dynamics Interpretation
Market dynamics are being strongly shaped by persistent cross-border enforcement and supply risks, evidenced by the EU’s 1,000-plus RAPEX notifications for dangerous non-food products in 2023 and the US CBP’s 24,617 pharmaceutical seizures in 2022.
07 · Category
Health Outcomes6 stats
01
Anabolic-androgenic steroid use is associated with an increase in left ventricular hypertrophy in a pooled meta-analysis, with a standardized effect reported across included studies (quantitative association)[16]
02
A 2016 systematic review reported that androgenic anabolic steroid use is associated with increased systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure across included studies (pooled quantitative findings)[17]
03
A 2018 meta-analysis found anabolic steroid users had significantly higher odds of cardiovascular events compared with non-users (pooled estimate)[17]
04
In a 2016 systematic review, the overall frequency of hepatic enzyme elevations with oral anabolic steroid use was reported as a quantifiable proportion across studies (pooled estimate)[17]
05
A 2019 review reported that testosterone-induced erythrocytosis can lead to clinically significant increases in hemoglobin/hematocrit and summarizes the frequency of elevated hematocrit thresholds across trials (quantitative review findings)[18]
06
A 2018 review of endocrine effects reported that anabolic-androgenic steroid use is associated with measurable suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (quantified hormone changes summarized across studies)[17]
Interpretation
Health Outcomes Interpretation
Across Health Outcomes, pooled evidence shows that anabolic-androgenic steroid use is consistently linked with measurable cardiovascular harm, including increased left ventricular hypertrophy, higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and significantly higher odds of cardiovascular events in a 2018 meta-analysis compared with non-users.
08 · Category
Regulation & Enforcement4 stats
01
WADA’s 2024 Prohibited List lists anabolic androgenic steroids under section S1 (specific measurable classification for anti-doping enforcement)[8]
02
The WADA ABP requires longitudinal modeling of steroid markers (measurable statistical approach) for athlete monitoring over multiple samples[8]
03
In 2023, WADA reported 200,000+ anti-doping tests conducted (including steroid/hormone analyte testing within prohibited categories)[8]
04
In the U.S., the legal framework for controlled substances is implemented under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA); anabolic steroids are designated Schedule III, requiring compliance with CSA handling requirements (regulatory consequence)[19]
Interpretation
Regulation & Enforcement Interpretation
The Regulation and Enforcement picture is that WADA’s 2024 Prohibited List and ABP push tighter steroid detection and longitudinal analysis while scaling to 200,000+ anti-doping tests in 2023 and, in the US, anabolic steroids being Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act adds a parallel legal compliance layer for enforcement.
09 · Category
Testing & Labs3 stats
01
For anti-doping, WADA publishes method and reporting requirements defining minimum performance levels for analytical detection of prohibited substances including steroids (quantified detection/reporting performance standards)[8]
02
In a comparative validation study, LC-MS/MS methods achieved limits of detection in the low pg/mL to ng/mL range for testosterone/related steroids in biological matrices (quantified analytical performance)[17]
03
A 2020 method validation study reported that steroid hormone quantification using LC-MS/MS met accuracy and precision targets (e.g., %bias and %CV ranges) across concentrations in human serum[20]
Interpretation
Testing & Labs Interpretation
For Testing and Labs, the key trend is that modern LC MS/MS steroid testing is now validated to hit very sensitive detection benchmarks, reaching low pg/mL to ng/mL limits for testosterone and consistently meeting 2020 serum accuracy and precision targets across concentrations in line with WADA’s method and reporting performance requirements.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Emilia Santos. (2026, February 13). Steroid Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/steroid-statistics
MLA
Emilia Santos. "Steroid Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/steroid-statistics.
Chicago
Emilia Santos. 2026. "Steroid Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/steroid-statistics.
Sources & references
20 sources cited across this report