Anti-Doping Knowledge and Opinions of South African Pharmacists and General Practitioners

Abstract

Objective: Despite the prevalence of doping in sport and the need for doping prevention strategies, information about doping awareness among medical professionals is limited. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the knowledge and attitude of South African pharmacists (Ps) and general practitioners (GPs) towards doping in sports.Methods: An online survey questionnaire was completed by 98 Ps and 201 GPs the questionnaire incorporated a range of questions that probed the participant's knowledge and attitudes regarding doping in sport. Results:The study findings revealed that both Ps and GPs admitted a poor knowledge of doping-related matters and lacked doping-specific training (>80% of both GPs and Ps had not received any formal training and/or attended any courses or workshops specific to doping in sport). Over 88% of all respondents felt that they were not adequately trained for the role of doping prevention in sport and more than 92% felt that they required further training in relation to doping in sport issues Conclusions: Although Ps fared slightly better when questioned about their knowledge of certain doping relatedtopics, overall it was evident that both groups would benefit from additional training that would focus on expanding their knowledge of prohibited substances and the associated legislature to the possible benefit of their patients.

Anti-Doping Knowledge, Attitude, and Experience of General Practitioners in Kenya

“…The paucity of doping knowledge in these aspects limits the Kenya General Practitioners' competence in treating athletes in compliance with WADA requirements. Similar findings were reported among Serbian general practitioners, and medical practitioners from the Balkan region (Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey), and South African general practitioners, where low doping knowledge was linked to a lack of doping topics in college, lack of interests in doping, and insufficient training (Dikic et al, 2008;Antic, 2017;Dorota & Derman, 2016;Starzak et al, 2021). In sports, low and even average doping knowledge incapacitates General Practitioners' ability to treat competitive athletes in line with antidoping agencies' requirements and effectively contribute to the fight against doping.…”

Pharmacy professionals’ knowledge, attitude and practice towards doping in sports: A Cross-sectional study in Ethiopia

“…However, doping substances are not covered in a separate chapter titled "Doping." Doping in sports is not covered in undergraduate pharmacy curricula [ 18 ].…”

“…Data collectors were trained for two days on how to introduce study tools to the study participants and check the completeness of the collected questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed after an extensive literature review on knowledge (K), attitude (A), and practice (P) of the pharmacy profession towards doping [ 17 , 18 , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] ].…”

“…A French survey concluded that pharmacists did not have the general knowledge and skills important to participate effectively in doping prevention [ 17 ]. In a study conducted on South African pharmacists and general practitioners, both of them have insufficient doping-related knowledge and lack doping-specific training [ 18 ]. A study conducted in Japan indicated that the students' basic knowledge regarding doping was limited [ 19 ].…”

Medication information and supply behaviours in elite and developing athletes

“…Previous studies have shown that, although some pharmacists express a desire to learn more about this specialty, they lack doping-related knowledge, and are not adequately trained to practice sports pharmacy. 24,25 Studies have also suggested that educational programs relating to sports pharmacy could be developed and implemented into pharmacy curricula and continued education programs. 22,26 Interestingly, some participants believed the role of the pharmacist was limited only to dispensing medications.…”