General practitioners and doping in sport: attitudes and experience

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Public Health
• General Practice

Background:

• Sports doping poses significant health risks and is a growing public health concern.
• General practitioners (GPs) play a crucial role in identifying and preventing doping in athletes.
• Understanding GPs' knowledge and attitudes towards doping is essential for effective prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the knowledge and attitudes of French general practitioners (GPs) regarding sports doping.
• To determine the frequency of GPs' encounters with athletes using or seeking doping substances.
• To identify GPs' perceived preparedness for doping prevention.

Main Methods:

• A telephone survey was conducted with 402 randomly selected general practitioners across France.
• A structured script was used to gather data on GPs' awareness of banned substances, anti-doping laws, and personal experiences with doping.
• Data on GPs' opinions regarding doping as a public health problem and their role in prevention were collected.

Main Results:

• Only 34.5% of GPs were aware of the latest French anti-doping law (March 1999).
• 11% of GPs reported requests for doping agents, and 10% consulted athletes concerned about health risks from doping.
• Over half (52%) of GPs favored prescribing drug substitutions for athletes using doping agents, and 77% felt poorly prepared for doping prevention.

Conclusions:

• French GPs demonstrate limited knowledge of sports doping regulations and laws.
• GPs frequently encounter athletes involved in doping, indicating its presence in everyday medical practice.
• Despite recognizing doping as a public health problem, GPs feel inadequately equipped to address it.