EPIDEMIOLOGIC APPROACH OF DOPING IN SPORT - A REVIEW

Objective. To determine, the prevalence of doping in sport as it was r eported by the athletes during surveys, and to try to isolate risk fac tors to resort to doping. Experimental design. Medline, Pascal and Emb ase search for the period from 1980 to 1996. Study selection. Of the 4 4 studies produced, 15 were not included in the detailed data summary because they reported statistical data from antidoping controls, they were not enough specific, or they concerned horse races. Data extracti on. Details of study design, drugs studied, prevalence. When available , were also noted: the sport practiced and the motives for doping. Res ults. Among children, doping prevalence is around 3-5%. Among adults, in self-reported use studies, doping prevalence may be estimated at 5- 15%, where projected use studies report a mean prevalance near 15-25%. Studies provide few data about the sports that produce drug users. Co nclusions. The extent of sport doping and its potential risks for heal th must make it to be considered as a problem of public health, This m eans that physicians must, at last, consider it as any other problem a nd change their behaviour against doping, in order not to reduce the s ubject to the sole list of prohibited substances. As for sports federa tions, they must, as last, recognize that prevalence of doping is high . Lastly, new studies are essential to determine motives for doping an d to institute the predictable factors for this practice, what will pe rhaps make efficient the prevention campaigns.