A questionnaire examining attitudes of collegiate athletes toward doping and pharmacists as information providers

Doping in sport has become an increasingly prominent topic. The decision to take part in doping practices is multifactorial and often based on many different information sources of varying reliability. This study sought to determine the attitudes of athletes at a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) university toward doping and to discover if pharmacists are perceived to be a valid information source on medication usage for these athletes.

CIS athletes competing in at least 1 of 8 sports were asked to complete a questionnaire. Participants were asked various questions regarding their perceptions of doping, medication use, information available to them regarding doping and the role of pharmacists in providing advice on medication usage.

In total, 92.7% (307/331) of questionnaires were at least partially completed. Generally, these athletes did not feel pressured to dope or that it was prevalent or necessary. The fear of doping violations largely did not alter the use of medications and supplements. The online doping education program administered by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport was the most used information source (74.5%); pharmacists were used 37.7% of the time. Pharmacists were perceived to be a good source of information about banned substances by 75.6% (223/295) of participants, although only 35% (104/297) consulted a pharmacist each time they purchased a nonprescription medication.

It appears that doping is neither prevalent nor worth the risk for these CIS athletes. There also appears to be an opportunity for pharmacists to play a more prominent role in providing advice on medication use to high-performance athletes.