The effect of some medications on the performance and general health of athletes

Abstract

Drug use in sports is a topic of increasing interest because of its effects on both athletic performance and the health of athletes. Although medications can be beneficial in managing conditions such as asthma or muscle pain, they can also have adverse effects and may be inappropriate to use. Understanding drug use patterns among athletes is therefore critical to promoting athlete health and safety while ensuring fair competition. In this research investigate drug use in athletes in Norway using data obtained from Doping Control Forms (DCFs) collected between 2015 and 2019. In total, 10,418 DCFs were included in the study, of which 40.6% were recreational athletes and 59.4% were obtained from national or international level athletes. The majority of athletes were in the 20–24 and 25–29 age groups, and 93.6% of DCFs were from athletes with Norwegian citizenship. We found that the average number of registered pharmaceuticals per DCF was higher in national-level athletes than in recreational athletes, and that female athletes used more pharmaceuticals than male athletes. Drug use also varies by sport, with athletes in endurance sports such as cycling and cross-country skiing using more drugs than athletes in team and ball sports. The most commonly used drugs were anti-asthmatics and painkillers, which is not surprising given the prevalence of conditions such as asthma and musculoskeletal pain in athletes. We also found that the use of hypnotics, which are sleep-inducing drugs, was relatively common among athletes in some sports.