Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy
Published in: Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 1/2011

Open Access 01-12-2011 | Research

Is there a danger for myopia in anti-doping education? Comparative analysis of substance use and misuse in Olympic racket sports calls for a broader approach

Authors: Miran Kondric, Damir Sekulic, Andrea Petroczi, Ljerka Ostojic, Jelena Rodek, Zdenko Ostojic

Published in: Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy | Issue 1/2011

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Racket sports are typically not associated with doping. Despite the common characteristics of being non-contact and mostly individual, racket sports differ in their physiological demands, which might be reflected in substance use and misuse (SUM). The aim of this study was to investigate SUM among Slovenian Olympic racket sport players in the context of educational, sociodemographic and sport-specific factors.

Methods

Elite athletes (N = 187; mean age = 22 ± 2.3; 64% male) representing one of the three racket sports, table tennis, badminton, and tennis, completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire on substance use habits. Athletes in this sample had participated in at least one of the two most recent competitions at the highest national level and had no significant difference in competitive achievement or status within their sport.

Results

A significant proportion of athletes (46% for both sexes) reported using nutritional supplements. Between 10% and 24% of the studied males would use doping if the practice would help them achieve better results in competition and if it had no negative health consequences; a further 5% to 10% indicated potential doping behaviour regardless of potential health hazards. Females were generally less oriented toward SUM than their male counterparts with no significant differences between sports, except for badminton players. Substances that have no direct effect on sport performance (if timed carefully to avoid detrimental effects) are more commonly consumed (20% binge drink at least once a week and 18% report using opioids), whereas athletes avoid substances that can impair and threaten athletic achievement by decreasing physical capacities (e.g. cigarettes), violating anti-doping codes or potentially transgressing substance control laws (e.g. opiates and cannabinoids). Regarding doping issues, athletes' trust in their coaches and physicians is low.

Conclusion

SUM in sports spreads beyond doping-prone sports and drugs that enhance athletic performance. Current anti-doping education, focusing exclusively on rules and fair play, creates an increasingly widening gap between sports and the athletes' lives outside of sports. To avoid myopia, anti-doping programmes should adopt a holistic approach to prevent substance use in sports for the sake of the athletes' health as much as for the integrity of sports.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Baron DA, Martin DM, Abol Magd S: Doping in sports and its spread to at-risk populations: an international review. World Psychiatry. 2007, 6: 118-123.PubMedCentralPubMed
2.
Mazanov J: Drug use and abuse by athletes. Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology. Edited by: Hanrahan S, Andersen M. 2010, Routledge, 398-414.
3.
Houlihan B: Detection and education in anti-doping policy: a review of current issues and assessment of future prospects. Hitotsubashi J Arts Scis. 2008, 49: 55-71.
4.
Brennan BP, Kanayama G, Hudson JI, Pope HG: Human growth hormone abuse in male weightlifters. Am J Addict. 2011, 20: 9-13. 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2010.00093.x.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
5.
McDuff DR, Baron D: Substance use in athletics: a sports psychiatry perspective. Clin Sports Med. 2005, 24: 885-897. 10.1016/j.csm.2005.06.004. ix-xCrossRefPubMed
6.
Peters RJ, Adams LF, Barnes JB, Hines LA, Jones DE, Krebs KM, Kelder SH: Beliefs and social norms about ephedra onset and perceived addiction among college male and female athletes. Subst Use Misuse. 2005, 40: 125-135. 10.1081/JA-200030517.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Ayotte C, Levesque JF, Cléroux M, Lajeunesse A, Goudreault D, Fakirian A: Sport nutritional supplements: quality and doping controls. Can J Appl Physiol. 2001, 26 (Suppl): S120-129.CrossRefPubMed
8.
9.
Rodriguez NR, Di Marco NM, Langley S: American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Nutrition and athletic performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009, 41: 709-731. 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31890eb86.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Tscholl P, Alonso JM, Dolle G, Junge A, Dvorak J: The use of drugs and nutritional supplements in top-level track and field athletes. Am J Sports Med. 2010, 38: 133-140. 10.1177/0363546509344071.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Petroczi A: Attitudes and doping: a structural equation analysis of the relationship between athletes' attitudes, sport orientation and doping behaviour. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2007, 2: 34-10.1186/1747-597X-2-34.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
12.
Petroczi A, Naughton DP: Supplement use in sport: is there a potentially dangerous incongruence between rationale and practice?. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2007, 2: 4-10.1186/1745-6673-2-4.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
13.
Deshmukh N, Petroczi A, Barker J, Szekely AD, Hussain I, Naughton DP: Potentially harmful advantage to athletes: a putative connection between UGT2B17 gene deletion polymorphism and renal disorders with prolonged use of anabolic androgenic steroids. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2010, 5: 7-10.1186/1747-597X-5-7.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
14.
van Amsterdam J, Opperhuizen A, Hartgens F: Adverse health effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2010, 57: 117-123. 10.1016/j.yrtph.2010.02.001.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Furlanello F, Serdoz LV, Cappato R, De Ambroggi L: Illicit drugs and cardiac arrhythmias in athletes. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2007, 14: 487-494. 10.1097/HJR.0b013e3280ecfe3e.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Lentillon-Kaestner V, Hagger MS, Hardcastle S: Health and doping in elite-level cycling. Scand J Med Sci Sports.
17.
Ciocca M, Stafford H, Laney R: The Athlete's Pharmacy. Clin Sports Med. 2011, 30: 629-639. 10.1016/j.csm.2011.03.003.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Striegel H, Ulrich R, Simon P: Randomized response estimates for doping and illicit drug use in elite athletes. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010, 106: 230-232. 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.07.026.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Sottas PE, Robinson N, Rabin O, Saugy M: The athlete biological passport. Clin Chem. 2011, 57: 969-976. 10.1373/clinchem.2011.162271.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Sottas PE, Robinson N, Fischetto G, Dolle G, Alonso JM, Saugy M: Prevalence of blood doping in samples collected from elite track and field athletes. Clin Chem. 2011, 57: 762-769. 10.1373/clinchem.2010.156067.CrossRefPubMed
21.
22.
Faude O, Meyer T, Rosenberger F, Fries M, Huber G, Kindermann W: Physiological characteristics of badminton match play. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2007, 100: 479-485. 10.1007/s00421-007-0441-8.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Lees A: Science and the major racket sports: a review. J Sports Sci. 2003, 21: 707-732. 10.1080/0264041031000140275.CrossRefPubMed
24.
25.
Maquirriain J: Epidemiological analysis of doping offences in the professional tennis circuit. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2010, 5: 30-10.1186/1745-6673-5-30.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
26.
Petroczi A, Naughton DP: The age-gender-status profile of high performing athletes in the UK taking nutritional supplements: lessons for the future. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2008, 5: 2-10.1186/1550-2783-5-2.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
27.
Kondric M, Sekulic D, Mandic GF: Substance use and misuse among Slovenian table tennis players. Subst Use Misuse. 2010, 45: 543-553. 10.3109/10826080903452553.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Zenic N, Peric M, Zubcevic NG, Ostojic Z, Ostojic L: Comparative analysis of substance use in ballet, dance sport, and synchronized swimming: results of a longitudinal study. Med Probl Perform Art. 2010, 25: 75-81.PubMed
29.
Smith AC, Stewart B: Drug policy in sport: hidden assumptions and inherent contradictions. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2008, 27: 123-129. 10.1080/09595230701829355.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Sekulic D, Kostic R, Rodek J, Damjanovic V, Ostojic Z: Religiousness as a protective factor for substance use in dance sport. J Relig Health. 2009, 48: 269-277. 10.1007/s10943-008-9193-y.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Popova S, Rehm J, Patra J, Zatonski W: Comparing alcohol consumption in central and eastern Europe to other European countries. Alcohol Alcohol. 2007, 42: 465-473.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Sesok J: Alcohol consumption and indicators of alcohol-related harm in Slovenia, 1981-2002. Croat Med J. 2004, 45: 466-472.PubMed
33.
Dietze PM, Fitzgerald JL, Jenkinson RA: Drinking by professional Australian Football League (AFL) players: prevalence and correlates of risk. Med J Aust. 2008, 189: 479-483.PubMed
34.
O'Brien KS, Ali A, Cotter JD, O'Shea RP, Stannard S: Hazardous drinking in New Zealand sportspeople: level of sporting participation and drinking motives. Alcohol Alcohol. 2007, 42: 376-382.CrossRefPubMed
35.
Martens MP, Watson JC, Royland EM, Beck NC: Development of the athlete drinking scale. Psychol Addict Behav. 2005, 19: 158-164.CrossRefPubMed
36.
37.
Patel DR, Luckstead EF: Sport participation, risk taking, and health risk behaviors. Adolesc Med. 2000, 11: 141-155.PubMed
38.
Maughan RJBL: Alcohol and sport. Sports nutrition: handbook of sports medicine and science. Edited by: Maughan RJ BL. 2002, Oxford: Blackwell Science, 64-71.CrossRef
39.
Bower BL, Martin M: African American female basketball players: an examination of alcohol and drug behaviors. J Am Coll Health. 1999, 48: 129-133. 10.1080/07448489909595684.CrossRefPubMed
40.
Dunn M, Thomas JO, Swift W, Burns L: Recreational substance use among elite Australian athletes. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2011, 30: 63-68. 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2010.00200.x.CrossRefPubMed
41.
Bergeron MF: Heat cramps: fluid and electrolyte challenges during tennis in the heat. J Sci Med Sport. 2003, 6: 19-27.CrossRefPubMed
42.
Bergeron MF, Maresh CM, Kraemer WJ, Abraham A, Conroy B, Gabaree C: Tennis: a physiological profile during match play. Int J Sports Med. 1991, 12: 474-479. 10.1055/s-2007-1024716.CrossRefPubMed
43.
Juzwiak CR, Amancio OM, Vitalle MS, Pinheiro MM, Szejnfeld VL: Body composition and nutritional profile of male adolescent tennis players. J Sports Sci. 2008, 26: 1209-1217. 10.1080/02640410801930192.CrossRefPubMed
44.
45.
Backhouse SH, Petroczi A: Gateway to doping? Investigating nutritional supplement use in the context of preferred competitive situations, doping attitude, beliefs and norms. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport.
46.
Rodek J, Sekulic D, Pasalic E: Can we consider religiousness as a protective factor against doping behavior in sport?. J Relig Health. 2009, 48: 445-453. 10.1007/s10943-008-9207-9.CrossRefPubMed
47.
Braun H, Koehler K, Geyer H, Kleiner J, Mester J, Schanzer W: Dietary supplement use among elite young German athletes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2009, 19: 97-109.PubMed
48.
49.
Woods CB, Moynihan A: General practitioners knowledge, practice and training requirements in relation to doping in sport. Ir Med J. 2009, 102: 8-10.PubMed
50.
Sekulic D: Why are we losing the war against doping? In fact, do we want to win at all?. JAHR. 2011, 2: 302-310.
51.
RD K: Anabolic-androgenic steroid use among California community college student-athletes. J Athl Train. 1996, 31: 237-241.
52.
Lorente FO, Peretti-Watel P, Grelot L: Cannabis use to enhance sportive and non-sportive performances among French sport students. Addict Behav. 2005, 30: 1382-1391. 10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.01.019.CrossRefPubMed
53.
Sekulic D, Peric M, Rodek J: Substance use and misuse among professional ballet dancers. Subst Use Misuse. 2010, 45: 1420-1430. 10.3109/10826081003682198.CrossRefPubMed
54.
Dascombe BJKM, Cartoon J, Fergie B, Goodman C: Nutritional supplementation habits and perceptions of elite athletes within a state-based sporting institute. J Sci Med Sport. 2010, 13: 274-280. 10.1016/j.jsams.2009.03.005.CrossRefPubMed
55.
Muller SM, Gorrow TR, Schneider SR: Enhancing appearance and sports performance: are female collegiate athletes behaving more like males?. J Am Coll Health. 2009, 57: 513-520. 10.3200/JACH.57.5.513-520.CrossRefPubMed
56.
Zenic N, Stipic M, Sekulic D: Religiousness as a Factor of Hesitation Against Doping Behavior in College-Age Athletes. J Relig Health.
57.
Petroczi A: Impact of multidisciplinary research on advancing anti-doping efforts. International Journal of Sport Policy. 2011, 3: 231-254.CrossRef
58.
Hanstad DV, Waddington I: Sport, health and drugs: a critical re-examination of some key issues and problems. Perspect Public Health. 2009, 129: 174-182. 10.1177/1466424008094806.CrossRefPubMed
59.
Yusko DA, Buckman JF, White HR, Pandina RJ: Alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and performance enhancers: a comparison of use by college student athletes and nonathletes. J Am Coll Health. 2008, 57: 281-290. 10.3200/JACH.57.3.281-290.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
60.
Mays D, Depadilla L, Thompson NJ, Kushner HI, Windle M: Sports participation and problem alcohol use: a multi-wave national sample of adolescents. Am J Prev Med. 2010, 38: 491-498. 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.01.023.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
61.
Petroczi A, Uvacsek M, Nepusz T, Deshmukh N, Shah I, Aidman EV, Barker J, Toth M, Naughton DP: Incongruence in doping related attitudes, beliefs and opinions in the context of discordant behavioural data: in which measure do we trust?. PLoS One. 2011, 6: e18804-10.1371/journal.pone.0018804.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
62.
Dodge T, Hoagland MF: The use of anabolic androgenic steroids and polypharmacy: a review of the literature. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2011, 114: 100-109.PubMedCentralPubMed
63.
Thomas JO, Dunn M, Swift W, Burns L: Illicit drug knowledge and information-seeking behaviours among elite athletes. Journal of science and medicine in sport/Sports Medicine Australia. 2011, 14: 278-282.CrossRefPubMed
64.
Backhouse SH, McKenna J: Doping in sport: a review of medical practitioners' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. Int J Drug Policy. 2011, 22: 198-202. 10.1016/j.drugpo.2011.03.002.CrossRefPubMed
65.
Holm S, McNamee MJ, Pigozzi F: Ethical practice and sports physician protection: a proposal. Br J Sports Med.
66.
Mazanov J, Huybers T, Connor J: Qualitative evidence of a primary intervention point for elite athlete doping. J Sci Med Sport. 2011, 14: 106-110. 10.1016/j.jsams.2010.06.003.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Is there a danger for myopia in anti-doping education? Comparative analysis of substance use and misuse in Olympic racket sports calls for a broader approach
Authors
Miran Kondric
Damir Sekulic
Andrea Petroczi
Ljerka Ostojic
Jelena Rodek
Zdenko Ostojic
Publication date
01-12-2011
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy / Issue 1/2011
Electronic ISSN: 1747-597X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-6-27

Other articles of this Issue 1/2011

Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 1/2011 Go to the issue

Research

A descriptive survey of types, spread and characteristics of substance abuse treatment centers in Nigeria

Research

The SCIDOTS Project: Evidence of benefits of an integrated tobacco cessation intervention in tuberculosis care on treatment outcomes

Research

Availability of substance abuse treatment services in Spanish: A GIS analysis of Latino communities in Los Angeles County, California

Research

Underage drinking on saturday nights, sociodemographic and environmental risk factors: a cross-sectional study

Research

Adolescents' leisure activities, parental monitoring and cigarette smoking - a cross-sectional study

Research

Alcohol-related brief intervention in patients treated for opiate or cocaine dependence: a randomized controlled study