Diabetes rates showed no clear difference between sanctioned steroid users and matched controls
A Danish registry study's main analysis was inconclusive; changing the diabetes definition produced an association with lower incidence.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The main analysis did not find a statistically clear difference in diabetes incidence between men sanctioned for steroid use and matched controls. A stricter diabetes definition produced an association with lower incidence, but this observational result cannot show that steroids prevent diabetes or establish their overall safety.
Lifestyle factors and body mass index could confound the association. This abstract-based summary cannot determine how much they influenced the results.
What researchers found
Adjusted diabetes incidence rate ratio
Through 2023, users had an estimated 0.70 times the diabetes rate of matched controls. One means equal rates; the interval spans lower and higher rates.
Counting diabetes cases
Researchers identified diabetes from hospital diagnoses or collected prescriptions for glucose-lowering medicines. The outcome was recorded diabetes rather than a direct test of glucose metabolism, making the case definition important.
Changing the definition
When prescriptions for a particular drug class alone no longer counted as diabetes, the association became statistically significant. The result therefore depended partly on how cases were identified.
The original publication
Anabolic androgenic steroid use and risk of diabetes mellitus in males.
Esmann FVL, Heerfordt IM, Windfeld-Mathiasen J et al.
Diabetes Obes Metab · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41208464
- Record checked
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