Trends in exposure to drugs and prohibited substances among sports: A nationwide analysis of 2008–2022 inquiry records

Abstract

To prevent athletes from unintentional doping, the anti‐doping authorities in Taiwan have launched several sports‐prohibited substances inquiry services since 2008. This study aimed to enhance the prevention of sports‐prohibited substance misuse by analyzing data collected from major nationwide service systems, enabling the identification of trends in athletes' exposure to drugs and prohibited substances. The study collected over 30,000 data points from three major national anti‐doping inquiry systems, spanning from 2008 to 2022. The information of the users consulted products, prohibited substances, and sports disciplines in the data were calculated and categorized. The usage of inquiry systems has shown an increasing trend from 2008 to 2022. Athletes comprised the majority of users (> 40%), significantly outnumbering other user groups (all below 20%). Among the inquiries, Western medicine accounted for the highest percentage (up to 79.6%), and it also contained the majority of the prohibited substances. Interestingly, traditional Chinese medicines had a higher chance (35.9%) of containing prohibited substances, as indicated by the mobile application. The prohibited substances mainly belonged to class S6 stimulants and S9 glucocorticoids. Among the daily medicinal products and nutritional supplements encountered by sports personnel, approximately 30% of them were found to contain prohibited substances. Future educational efforts should focus on raising awareness about traditional Chinese medicines and drugs for the common cold, ADHD, and pain relief, as well as their regulation, to prevent the misuse of prohibited substances.