Davoren Ann Kearns, Rulison Kelly, Milroy Jeff, Grist Pauline, Fedoruk Matthew, Lewis Laura, Wyrick David
Prevention Strategies, Greensboro, NC, USA.
The University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA.
Sports Med Open. 2024 May 20;10(1):57. doi: 10.1186/s40798-024-00721-9.
Determining the prevalence of doping within an elite athlete population is challenging due to the extreme sensitivity of the topic; however, understanding true doping prevalence is important when designing anti-doping programs and measuring their effectiveness. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of doping among Olympic, Paralympic, World, and National-level competitive athletes in the United States subject to the World Anti-Doping Code. All athletes who were subject to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, a World Anti-Doping Code ("Code")-compliant anti-doping program, were invited to complete a web-delivered survey. Using a direct questioning approach, the survey items asked athletes whether they had used each specific category of banned substance / method on the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List. Multiple strategies to encourage honest reporting (e.g., protecting anonymity by collecting minimal demographic information; using an outside organization to administer the survey) and to detect inconsistent responses were used.
Depending on the method of calculation, 6.5-9.2% of the 1,398 respondents reported using one or more prohibited substances or methods in the 12 months prior to survey administration. Specific doping prevalence rates for each individual substance / method categories ranged from 0.1% (for both diuretics / masking agents and stem cell / gene editing) to 4.2% for in-competition use of cannabinoids.
Determining the prevalence of doping within different athlete populations is critical so that sport governing bodies can evaluate their anti-doping efforts and better tailor their programming. By measuring doping prevalence of specific categories of substances and methods, rather than just the overall prevalence of doping, this study also highlights where sport governing bodies should focus their future educational and detection efforts.
由于该话题极其敏感，确定精英运动员群体中的使用兴奋剂流行率具有挑战性；然而，在设计反兴奋剂计划并衡量其有效性时，了解真实的使用兴奋剂流行率很重要。本研究的目的是估计在美国受《世界反兴奋剂条例》约束的奥运会、残奥会、世界和国家级竞技运动员中使用兴奋剂的流行率。所有受美国反兴奋剂机构奥运会和残奥会运动检测协议（一项符合《世界反兴奋剂条例》（“条例”）的反兴奋剂计划）约束的运动员都被邀请完成一项网络调查。该调查采用直接提问的方式，询问运动员是否使用过世界反兴奋剂机构禁用清单上的每一类特定违禁物质/方法。使用了多种鼓励如实报告的策略（例如，通过收集最少的人口统计信息来保护匿名性；使用外部组织进行调查）以及检测不一致回答的策略。
根据计算方法的不同，在1398名受访者中，6.5% - 9.2%的人报告在调查前12个月内使用过一种或多种违禁物质或方法。每种单独物质/方法类别的具体使用兴奋剂流行率从0.1%（利尿剂/掩盖剂和干细胞/基因编辑均为0.1%）到赛内使用大麻素的4.2%不等。
确定不同运动员群体中的使用兴奋剂流行率至关重要，这样体育管理机构才能评估其反兴奋剂工作，并更好地调整其计划。通过测量特定类别物质和方法的使用兴奋剂流行率，而不仅仅是使用兴奋剂的总体流行率，本研究还突出了体育管理机构未来应将教育和检测工作重点放在何处。
