Evaluation of knowledge and prevalence of using supplements and stimulating drugs in elite athletes in the province of East Azarbaijan

Abstract

Rising attention paid to sport has made it a world-class international industry. Consequently increase usage of sport supplements among athlete has become a global concern. Aim: We aimed to study the elite athletes' knowledge, attitude and performance toward sports supplements. Method: This was an analytical cross-sectional study. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from active athletes of all sport disciplines at championship level. Study setting was the Physical Education Organization of Tabriz city in Iran. The inclusion criteria were: being active athlete at the championship level, being over the age of 16 years, and consent to contribute in the study. After approval of study protocol in research ethics committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences we went to the Sports and Youth Department and received letter of recommendation to the sport boards. They provided us with access to the athletes. The sample size was 120 active athletes at the championship level based on the estimation of organization. The sampling was done randomly. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics methods and calculating mean indices for quantitative, frequency and percentages for qualitative variables respectively. To determine the relationship between consumption, knowledge and attitude with the underlying variables, one-dimensional multivariate linear model analysis was used, all by SPSS-25 software. Results : Out of 109 athletes 68 (62.4%) uses “sports supplements”, six (5.5%) regularly (more than 5 times a week), 31 (28.4%) occasionally (2 to 4 times a week), 31 (28.4%) seldom (less than 2 times in Week). 41 (37.6%) do not use supplementation. Also of athletes 51 (46.8%) use drug in sport. 4 (3.7%) of athletes regularly (more than 5 times a week), 16 (14.7%) sometimes (2 to 4 times a week), 31 (28.4) seldom (less than twice a week) ) of the drug, and 58 (53.2%) do not use the drug. Mean score of knowledge was 2.50 and athletes' attitude towards supplements and drugs in sport was 4.40. Conclusion: It is concluded that usage of supplement and drugs in the athletes' community is high and their knowledge is very low, meaning that the athlete merely taking into account the side effects of the drugs and supplements. The main source of information about the drugs and supplement for athletes are the club instructors, who are often non-specialists and the drugs and supplements are provided from pharmacies. It is seriously suggested by this study to apply some supervisory policies on sale of drugs and supplements for sport in pharmacies by food and drug organization, and educational/consulting programs by Sport and Youth Department for athletes as well as club instructors.