Despite inconclusive efficacy data and concerning safety data, the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the adolescent population is on the rise. Anabolic-androgenic steroids, growth hormones, stimulants, and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents are among the most widely known and studied prescription PEDs in the adolescent population. The purpose of this article is to describe the proposed mechanism of action, efficacy and adverse effects of these agents as well as discuss prevention measures and treatment considerations for those patients at risk for, considering, or currently using PEDs.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 48. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 May 2026.
All research outputs
#1,071,939
of 32,686,267 outputs
Outputs from American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
#133
of 877 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#16,609
of 441,134 outputs
Outputs of similar age from American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
#2
of 10 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 32,686,267 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 877 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 39.6. This one has done well, scoring higher than 85% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 441,134 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 10 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 8 of them.
