Abstract
Recent studies revealed that amateur athletes, especially young ones, have an increasing tendency of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) usage. The aim of this study was to explore PEDs attitudes, beliefs, and practices among young, amateur Croatian athletes. This cross-sectional study using a specially designed questionnaire as a research tool was done during the August 2019 to January 2020 period among a convenient sample of 400 amateur athletes of median age 18 (interquartile range 15 to 21) years. The prevalence of current PEDs usage was 1.3%, while past PEDs usage prevalence was 3.3%. Current PEDs usage was more frequent among young adults (p = 0.048) and athletes playing individual sports (p = 0.001). Athletes who were engaged in sports from one to five years had more permissive attitudes toward PEDs (p < 0.001) as measured by the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale. Female athletes had more positive beliefs about PEDs usage (p = 0.008). The study did not establish any correlation between current or past PEDs usage and attitudes toward PEDs as well as beliefs about PEDs usage. However, there was a weak positive correlation between attitudes toward PEDs and athletes’ beliefs about PEDs usage (rs = 0.465, p < 0.001). PEDs usage is present among young Croatian amateur athletes. There is a need for interventions directed toward the prevention of PEDs usage in an observed subgroup of athletes.
Highlights
Physical activity is very important for mental and physical health and well-being in all age groups of people, especially young people [1,2,3,4]
The present study confirmed that performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) usage is an important issue for amateur athletes in Croatia since it has been established that the prevalence of current PEDs usage in the observed population of athletes was 1.3%, while the prevalence of past PEDs usage among them was 3.3%
The present study revealed that the current and the past PEDs usage prevalence was higher among amateur athletes who played individual sports, which is in concordance with the finding of a study done by Aguilar-Navarro et al, who concluded that the incidence of PEDs usage was not uniform in all sports disciplines, suggesting that some specific sports might present a greater use of banned substances [41]
Summary
Physical activity is very important for mental and physical health and well-being in all age groups of people, especially young people [1,2,3,4]. Anti-doping rule violations include the presence of a banned substance or its metabolites in athletes’ biological samples, the use or attempted use of banned substances or methods by athletes, the athletes’ avoidance or refusal of doping control, unauthorized interference or attempted unauthorized use of any part of the doping control by the athlete or other person, and the possession of a banned substance or method by the athlete or supporting person. Studies dealing with the issue point to the fact that elite athletes use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and those who engage in amateur and recreational sports [10,11,12,13], sometimes to an even greater extent than professional athletes [8,14] Following the latter reason, PEDs have been recognized as a rising public health problem globally [8,11,15]. In the context of the previously written, the fact that the increase in the PEDs usage is detected among young people is worrying [16,17,18]
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