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Table 2 Prevalence, knowledge and attitude of prohibited substance use among Saudi sports players

From: Prevalence, knowledge and attitude of prohibited substances use (doping) among Saudi sport players

Variable

Category

N (%)

Age (Mean ± SD)

 

24.23 ± 0.19

League

Premier division

(625) 54.7 %

Division one

(372) 32.5 %

Division two

(88) 7.7 %

Others

(57) 5 %

Educational level

Illiterate

(2) 0.2 %

Elementary

(22) 1.9 %

Intermediate

(156) 13.7 %

Secondary

(624) 54.6 %

University

(338) 29.6 %

Ever used any type of food supplement

Yes

(439) 38.4 %

No

(703) 61.6 %

Type of food supplement

Vitamin pills

(302) 62 %

Minerals

(45) 9.3 %

Protein powders

(140) 28.7 %

Ever used any type of prohibited substances

Yes

(50) 4.38 %

No

(1092) 95.62 %

Advice on prohibited substances

Yes

(750) 65.6 %

No

(392) 34.4 %

Source of advice

Club physiotherapist

(244) 32.5 %

Fitness trainer

(231) 30.8 %

Media

(87) 11.65 %

Friends

(145) 19.41 %

Other

(43) 5.73 %

Ever tested for prohibited substances

Yes

(406) 35.6 %

No

(736) 64.4 %

Times being tested

Once

(223) 54.93 %

Twice

(110) 27.09 %

Three times

(73) 17.98 %

Willing to use prohibited substances in the future

Yes

(58) 5.1 %

No

(1084) 94.9 %

Know of players using prohibited substances

Yes

(253) 22.2 %

No

(889) 77.8 %

Reason for using prohibited substances

Increase self-confidence

(92) 8.1 %

Social recognition

(194) 17 %

Protect health

(64) 5.6 %

Improve performance

(792) 69.4 %

Behavior of using prohibited substances

Dishonesty and cheating

(345) 30.2 %

Dangerous to health

(419) 36.7 %

Against the spirit of sport

(378) 33.1 %

Supplements help being successful in sports

Agree

(485) 42.5 %

Disagree

(657) 57.5 %

Use could violate regulations

Agree

(578) 50.6 %

Disagree

(564) 49.4 %

Use constitutes cheating

Agree

(567) 49.6 %

Disagree

(575) 50.4 %

Punishment awareness

Yes

(885) 77.5 %

No

(257) 22.5 %

Punishment rate

Weak

(123) 13.9 %

Fair

(598) 67.6 %

Strong

(164) 18.5 %