16 Popping pills in youth elite sports- fact or fiction? A prospective cohort study of analgesic use in youth elite athletes

IntroductionAccording to the International Olympic Committee, longitudinal data on analgesic use in elite athletes is lacking. We aimed to investigate and compare analgesic use in a cohort of Danish youth elite athletes with student controls.Materials and Methods690 youth elite athletes and 505 student controls (15-20 years) provided weekly reports on number of days with analgesic use, reasons for use, and types of analgesics used for 36 weeks (mean weekly response rate 87%). We compared prevalence and frequency of analgesic use, reasons for use, and types of analgesics used between youth elite athletes and student controls. These analyses were repeated comparing male or female athletes with male or female student controls, respectively. ResultsOverall, athletes had lower odds of analgesic use (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.95) compared with student controls, but the overall usage rate was similar between the groups (IRR 1.04, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.11). No differences in odds or rate of analgesic use were observed when comparing athletes and students controls of same gender, but the average weekly prevalence of analgesic use was higher among females (~29%) than in males (~14%), irrespective of athletic status. Statistically significantly more athletes reported using analgesics to prevent or treat pain or injury in relation to sports participation and to use topical analgesic gels compared with student controls.ConclusionParticipation in youth elite sports was not associated with increased analgesic use compared with student controls, but seems to influence reasons for use and types of analgesics used.