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Australian athletes' knowledge of the WADA Prohibited Substances List and performance enhancing substances
Rhonda Orr1, Matthew Grassmayr1, Rona Macniven2
1Discipline of Exercise Sport Science, Faculty of Health, Sciences The University of Sydney, P.O. Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW, 1825, Australia.
Background:
This study investigated athlete knowledge of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited Substances List and the effects of four well-known performance enhancing substances (PES).
Methods:
A sample of 1925 elite and sub-elite athletes (mean age 20.6 years) completed a questionnaire about the banned status of 30 substances/methods and their knowledge of the effects of amphetamines, anabolic steroids, growth hormone and erythropoietin.
Results:
Athletes showed limited understanding of the WADA Prohibited Substances List, scoring 32.2% correct, 36.3% incorrect, and 31.4% indicated they did not know the status of 30 substances. Responses of >50% correct were given for only eight substances/method: anabolic steroids, amphetamines, blood doping, erythropoietin, caffeine, vitamins/minerals, protein powders and iron. Athletes demonstrated moderate knowledge of the desired effects of the four PES (49% correct), but poor knowledge of their adverse effects (29% correct). Age, sex, ethnicity, professional/amateur status, and current competition level were significant predictors of the number of correct responses (r2 = 0.16, p < 0.05). Athletes most likely to provide correct responses were male, 19-22 year-olds, Caucasian, professional and international representatives.
Conclusion:
This comprehensive study of anti-doping demonstrated that Australian athletes had limited knowledge of a wide range of substances and PES. Better targeted drug education towards younger and non-professional athletes and evaluation of current anti-doping programs are warranted.