Prevalence and Predictors of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use among Gym Users in Kuwait: A Preliminary Study Recreational anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use has become a world-wide pub- lic health concern, however there is currently no published literature pertaining to its use in Kuwait. Therefore, the goal of this preliminary study was to determine the lifetime prevalence of AAS use among gym users in Kuwait. A logistic regression was also used to assess whether age, nationality, smoking, and discrepancies be- tween ideal and perceived body image predicted AAS use among men. Participants were recruited from 6 gyms in Kuwait. Among the 200 individuals (86.5% male, 13.5% female) who participated, 35% reported AAS use. Only one female reported AAS use. When limiting the sample to Kuwaiti males between the ages of 18 and 30, the prevalence rose to 59.1%. Lower age, being Kuwaiti, smoking, and placing high importance on muscle tone and definition were all significant predictors of AAS use. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are also discussed. Keywords: anabolic-androgenic steroid use, body-image in the Middle East, Kuwaiti men’s health Non-medical anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) and other performance enhancing drug (PED) use for the purpose of “bulking-up” has become a world-wide public health concern 144 1 Department of Psychology, Trent University, Canada. 2 Psychological Services Department, Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute, Kuwait. 3 Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Kuwait. 4 Department of Physiotherapy, Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute, Kuwait. 5 Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute, Kuwait. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank all the participants who participated in this study. We are also incredibly grateful to all the gym managers (who are kept anonymous) who allowed us to distribute ques- tionnaires to their clients. A special thanks to Obada Al Halabi and Karam Al Halabi for assisting with par- ticipant recruitment and translating of research materials. Lastly, we are very grateful to the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) for generously funding this study (under project code 2007-1302-06). Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Neha Khullar, Life and Health Sciences Build- ing, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8, Canada. Email: nehakhullar@trentu.ca NEHA KHULLAR 1,2 , MSC, NICHOLAS C. SCULL 2,3 , PHD, MAUREEN C. DEENY 4 , BSC, PT, and ELHAM HAMDAN 5 , MD INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEN’S HEALTH, VOL. 15, NO. 2, SUMMER 2016, 144-156. © 2016 by the Men’s Studies Press, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.mensstudies.info jmh.1502.144/$15.00 • DOI: 10.3149/jmh.1502.144 • eISSN/1933-0278