Prevalence of ergogenic substances use and athletes' knowledge of effects and side effects of them in Lorestan province, western part of Iran

Use of ergogenic substances by athletes is an associated problem to sport. The purpose of this research was to examine the prevalence of ergogenic substances use and knowledge level by Lorestan province athletes about such drugs and their side effects.
Materials and Methods: In a descriptive- survey study, 1120 male and female athletes in 21 athletic field (17 athletic field between males and 15 athletic field between females) in five city of Lorestan province (Khoramabad, Boroujerd, Azna, Aleshtar and Koohdasht) who were available to participate in this research by cluster sampling. The measuring instrument was a researcher-centered questionnaire which included of rate of incidence, knowledge and attitude about doping, supplement, ergogenic substances, drugs and their side effects. Numbers of 878 questionnaires were filled and they were analyzed using analysis of variance, regression, chi-square, analysis of factor and correlation coefficient.
Results: Number of 285 (32.5%) of athletes in Lorestan province have taken one ergogenic substance at least, 176 (20%) from these athletes had used doping and banned drugs and also 231 (26.3%) from sport supplements. Also, the average score of knowledge about ergogenic substances was 18.20±14.73 from 44 ergogenic substances. The average score of attitude was 4.06±1.11 from 6 and the average score of awareness of doping was 5.79±2.72 from 12. Also, the results showed that mentioned athletes have low awareness about the side effects of ergogenic substances. The awareness about doping, the attitude toward doping, the championship field, the record of athletic, the knowledge of ergogenic substance and the record of other athletic field were the most important factors for predicting the use of ergogenic substances.
Conclusion: Our achievements show the use of ergogenic substances was higher than other compared with other countries and the use of supplements were lower than other countries. The results of this research indicate the low awareness about the side effects of ergogenic substances among athletes and emphasize the importance of predictive programs.