Prevalence of doping use by sprinter athletes in athletics

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of doping use among athletes practicing sprint athletics. Methods: Analyze amateur sprinters over 18 years old, in which, through the adaptation of a pre-existing form, 88 forms corresponding to the research objective were collected. Results: 88 amateur sprinters responded to the form, of which 64% were male and 36% were female. The questionnaire was administered via an online platform (Google Forms) and sent to volunteers via a direct messaging application. The average age was 24, 18 years old. Of the male sprinters, 12% claimed to have used anabolic steroids. Furthermore, a correlation was made between the use of anabolic steroids and dietary supplements, with the contingency coefficient between the relationship between the use of anabolic steroids and the use of “Amino acids, HMB” and “DHEA” being the most relevant data, 0.785. Conclusion: Competitiveness in the world of sport, even amateur, leads athletes to use illicit devices in the search for success. The article demonstrated that there is a correlation between the use of anabolic steroids and dietary supplements, therefore, exposing that many athletes deny using doping even though they are users.