Use of banned drugs (doping) by athletes in a department of sports sciencein Thessaloniki, Greece

Many athletes, in various sports, use banned (and illegal) drugs to improve their physical strength and endurance. The aim of this study was to determ ine: (1) if students (who were also athletes) in the Department of Sports S cience of the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, knew which substances are prohibited; (2) if they used such substances; and (3) whether they knew th e side-effects that drugs can cause. The survey was done by using an anonym ous and secret questionnaire. We delivered 300 questionnaires, 266 of which were returned completed. 119 students (47.6%) were male and 131 (52.4%) fe male, while 16 students did not mention their sex. 61% were > 20 years old and 33% were < 20 years old. Their knowledge of prohibited substances was h igh: 97% knew about anabolic agents while 70% were aware of amphetamines. A lower percentage knew about other substances. The degree of knowledge of t he side-effects caused by the use of such drugs was low. A small percentage (3.2%) of the students used doping, while 192 persons declared that they m ight use these substances in hope of winning an international event. Med Sc i Res 27:0139-140 (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.