This study aimed to evaluate the community pharmacists’ knowledge of tackling the issue of inadvertent doping in Malaysia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 384 community pharmacists working in Malaysia using a self-administered questionnaire. All the respondents were pharmacists fully registered with the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia and had been working in the community setting for at least one year. Of the 426 community pharmacists approached, 384 community pharmacists participated in this study, giving a response rate of 90.14%. The majority of the respondents were females (63.5%), graduated from local universities (74.9%), with median years of practising as a community pharmacist of six years (interquartile range, IQR = 9 years). The respondents were found to have moderate levels of doping-related knowledge (median score of 52 out of 100). Anabolic steroids (95.8%), stimulants (78.6%) and growth factors (65.6%) were recognised as prohibited substances by most of the respondents. Around 65.9% did not recognise that inadvertent doping is also considered a doping violation. Most of them (90%) also have poor levels of knowledge of doping scenarios in the country. Community pharmacists in Malaysia have limited knowledge in the field of doping. More programmes and activities related to doping and drugs in sports should be held to enhance the community pharmacists’ knowledge on the issue of inadvertent doping.

Engaging community pharmacists to eliminate inadvertent doping in sports: A study of their knowledge on doping

Objetivo: Analisar as evidências disponíveis na literatura sobre a atuação do farmacêutico na prática esportiva com atletas de alto rendimento. Método: Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa, realizada a partir do levantamento de dados nas bases de dados PubMed, SCOPUS e Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS-BIREME), por meio do cruzamento entre os termos “pharmacists”; “evidence-based pharmacy practice”; “sports”; “athletic performance” e “doping in sports”, pesquisados no Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).  Os operadores booleanos “AND” e “OR” foram empregados. Resultados: Na busca inicial, foram encontrados 806 artigos. Após análise dos manuscritos, 40 artigos foram elegíveis para o estudo e destes, 07 artigos foram incluídos, considerando os critérios de inclusão e exclusão. De acordo com os artigos abrangidos na pesquisa, embora a atuação do farmacêutico na área esportiva apresenta-se limitada por barreiras de conhecimento, falta de confiança para realizar o aconselhamento de atletas e por necessidades educacionais, observa-se experiências exitosas da atuação deste profissional em competições esportivas trazendo boas perspectivas para a prática clínica nesta área. Conclusão: Observa-se a necessidade de uma educação especializada para que farmacêuticos possam atuar na área esportiva, inclusive em atividades antidopings.

Atuação do Farmacêutico na prática esportiva com atletas de alto rendimento

General practitioners’ function on the principles of health competence, strong work ethics, and compassion to improve the health of their patients. When dealing with athletes, additional knowledge in sports is required to comprehensively address their health needs without affecting the integrity of rules that govern fair play. General practitioners require sufficient doping knowledge to provide athletes with health needs consistent with anti-doping regulations. In Kenya, no studies have investigated or reported the doping knowledge, attitude, or experience of GPs, thus leaving a knowledge gap on their ability to treat competitive athletes harmonious with WADA requirements. Therefore, the study sought to unearth Kenyan general practitioners' doping knowledge, attitude, and experience. The study's findings have implications on doping knowledge, attitude, and experience of Kenya GPs essential to inform the current status of the concept. A cross-sectional analytical study design was selected because of its robustness in describing general practitioners' current doping knowledge, attitude, and experiences. Data was collected using a self-reported questionnaire where 250 general practitioners completed the survey. Findings revealed that Kenya general practitioners are well aware of doping regulatory agencies of WADA and ADAK. The findings demonstrated that GPs have average doping knowledge (47.77 ± 14.03) punctuated with limited knowledge of prohibited substances, methods, and substances in certain sports. Work experience significantly influenced GPs knowledge, F (4,245) = 10.852, p< .001. GPs had a negative doping attitude of 45.23 ± 13.64. As many as 22% (55) GPs received doping requests for the last 12 months, where 35.7% (89) of requests are about drugs to aid recovery. Anabolic steroids, corticosteroids, and peptide hormones were among the most sought-after PEDs. General Practitioners in Kenya have inadequate doping knowledge, which could limit their efficacy in treating professional athletes in line with WADA guidelines. Additional anti-doping training could benefit them address this limitation. Although GPs demonstrated a negative attitude, expanding their involvement through active participation in doping seminars, training, and programs can enhance their understanding of the doping concept necessary to develop and maintain a strong negative attitude.

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Anti-Doping Knowledge, Attitude, and Experience of General Practitioners in Kenya

Objectives Pharmacists’ role in health care has evolved towards a more collaborative practice to combat current public health challenges and to support rational use of medicines. Previous literature also demonstrates pharmacists’ emerging role in sports and exercise medicine, including anti-doping and health counselling of athletes. The aim of this study was to assess: 1) What is the pharmacists’ self-assessed knowledge about doping and anti-doping activities? 2) How does the pharmacists’ and pharmacy characteristics effect on the self-assessed knowledge about doping and anti-doping activities? 3) What educational needs do the pharmacists report about doping and anti-doping activities? Material and Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among Finnish pharmacists in 2019. A convenience sampling method was used to reach the target group. The survey consisted of 26 questions considering pharmacists’ perceptions about doping, knowledge, and need for education about the pharmacology of doping agents, anti-doping counselling, and information sources. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation with Pearson's χ2 and the Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyse the data. Results A total of 246 pharmacy professionals completed a national online survey targeted at pharmacists in Finland. The average age of the respondents was 43 years (SD = 10), where 94% were females and 6% males. Pharmacists reported their self-assessed knowledge on anti-doping counselling to be poor or rather poor. Their highest needs for education were related to nutritional supplements’ doping risks, substances listed as doping agents, their mechanisms of action and purpose of use, and the adverse effects of doping agents and interactions with other medicines. More information was also needed about prohibited substances and methods in sports and doping in recreational sports. Conclusion Pharmacists were willing to participate in anti-doping activities, including counselling athletes. However, many pharmacists perceived their knowledge as insufficient and reported educational needs that could be considered in undergraduate and continuing education of pharmacists. Universities, anti-doping organisations, and other related actors in the pharmacy and anti-doping field have an important role in providing more educational opportunities to pharmacists.

Jukka Koskelo

Papers

Anti-doping knowledge and educational needs of Finnish pharmacists