Prevalence of Supplements Use and Knowledge Regard to Doping and Its Side Effects in Iranian Athlete University Students Participated in Sports Olympiad Competitions

The prevalence of supplements use has increased progressively in athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate Prevalence of supplements use and knowledge regard to doping and its side effects in Iranian athlete university students participated in sports Olympiad competitions at summer 2012.The statistical sample included 253 male athlete university students from different events (wrestling, football, handball, volleyball, basketball and track and field). Researcherbuild questionnaire which was developed to determine prevalence of supplement use and knowledge about doping and its side effects were distributed between athletes. The reliability analysis yielded cronbach alpha values of 0.81. The collected data of this study was analyzed by descriptive and deductive (spearman test) in significant level (P≤ 0.05).The results showed that 70.7% of student athletes want to use supplements. The consumption of supplements and drugs by wrestling (82.5%) and track and field (76%) athletes were more than other fields. 45% of athletes estimated that their knowledge of doping and supplement was average, 15.4% without, 13.4% low and 13.3% good knowledge. Also, wrestling (53.3%) and track and field (57.7%) had more knowledge than other fields. With regard to providing drug and supplement, athletes reported that they got them more from pharmacy (29.8%), friends (26.3%) and coach (21.1%).They received the most consultation from their friends (29.8%) and coach (28.1%).Based on the result of this study, it seems that the degree of student knowledge and information was low and they had a strong willingness to consume supplements. Therefore, there must be some instructional programs and courses for student athletes to modify their understanding and knowledge about side effects of doping and supplements.