Substance Use and Misuse and Potential Doping Behaviour in Rugby Union Players

Abstract

The aims of this investigation were to compile evidence on substance-use-and-misuse (SUM) and to identify factors related to potential-doping-behaviour (PDB) in rugby union. The subjects were 105 rugby athletes (all males; 23.4 ± 4.1 years; 99% respondents). The variables included socio-demographic factors, SUM-data, sport-factors, knowledge-on-doping (KD), and PDB. Data showed high alcohol consumption, with more than 30% of the athletes binge drinking at least once per week. Approximately 52% of the subjects used dietary-supplementation (DS) and 23% reported PDB, whereas 55% believed that doping is present in rugby. Forward conditional logistic regression revealed that less rugby experience (OR:1.286; 95%CI:1.058-1.563; p < 0.05), less smoking (OR:2.034; 95%CI:1.100-3.760; p < 0.05), higher DS usage (OR:5.543; 95%CI:1.666-18.444; p < 0.01), and a stronger belief that doping is present in rugby (OR:0.305; 95%CI:0.066-0.638; p < 0.01) were significant predictors of PDB. The high PDB and alcohol consumption warrant a serious intervention on these problems in rugby.

Disordered eating, amenorrhea, and substance use and misuse among professional ballet dancers: Preliminary analysis

“…Moreover, alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking are related to injury occurrence and impaired recovery after physical exercise/work [17,22]. Therefore, although not directly related to our main study aims, the positive association between academic achievement and smoking and binge drinking calls for attention and further evaluation.…”

“…There is growing evidence of the increased prevalence of nutritional supplementation (NS) in sport, exercise and physically demanding jobs [17]. Many controversies remain about the possible efficacy and necessity of this behavior [18].…”

Identification of Factors Associated with Potential Doping Behavior in Sports: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in High-Level Competitive Swimmers

“…Meanwhile, studies are consistent with regard to association which exists between personal opinion about doping-presence in sport and doping susceptibility, with higher likelihood of doping behavior in athletes who are convinced that doping is present in their sport [20,21,23,24]. Rugby players were more prone to doping if they were non-smokers, less experienced, and less successful in rugby [23]. A study on international tennis players identified lower doping vulnerability for players who had better knowledge on doping/sport nutrition and who achieved better competitive results [25].…”

“…Notably, while some reports suggest that males are more prone to doping [20,21], higher doping susceptibility in males is not always supported, while some reports evidenced even higher risk for doping vulnerability in females than in males [22]. Meanwhile, studies are consistent with regard to association which exists between personal opinion about doping-presence in sport and doping susceptibility, with higher likelihood of doping behavior in athletes who are convinced that doping is present in their sport [20,21,23,24]. Rugby players were more prone to doping if they were non-smokers, less experienced, and less successful in rugby [23].…”

The association between body-built and injury occurrence in pre-professional ballet dancers – Separated analysis for the injured body-locations

“…Prior to this study, 10 dancers (not observed herein) were asked to complete the same questionnaire in 2 occasions separated by 2 weeks for test-retest procedures. The reliability of the questionnaire was checked throughout the test-retest correlation (for ordinal variables such as age) and the analysis of equally answered questions (for ordinal and nominal variables; such as injury occurrence) [17]. The test-retest correlation for ordinal variables ranged from 0.84 to 0.99.…”