ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL MEDICINE 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2021 July;61(7):991-6

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.21.11604-4

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol use in elite-level Olympic-style weightlifters: a survey study

Melda P. YARGIÇ ¹, Şerife Ş. TORGUTALP ² ✉, Kenan ERDAGI ³

¹ Department of Sports Medicine, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey; ² Clinic of Sports Medicine, Gaziler Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey; ³ Department of Physical Education and Sport, Ahmet Kelesoglu Faculty of Education, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey

BACKGROUND: Although the high prevalence of analgesic use in various sports disciplines is well-known, it has not been reported among Olympic-style weightlifters yet. We aimed to determine the frequency of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and paracetamol use in elite-level Olympic-style weightlifters, the weightlifters’ attitudes towards NSAIDs and paracetamol use, and the total daily, weekly and monthly doses of NSAIDs and paracetamol.
METHODS: A total of 166 (46 female, 120 male) Olympic-style weightlifters enrolled for this study. Data was collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire distributed during national championships. The Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society-NSAID equivalent score, total doses of acetylsalicylic acid and paracetamol were calculated daily, weekly, and monthly.
RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 18.9±4.7 years. Only 11.4% of athletes stated that they used the drug only when the physician prescribed it. More than half of the athletes (57.2%) stated that they used at least one of the analgesics the day before the competition day. The most common form reported by the athletes was the concomitant use of medications (31.3%). The mean total acetylsalicylic acid, NSAID and paracetamol doses of 95 athletes using analgesics were daily: 500.0±95.0 mg/105.0±71.4 mg/555.6±160.1 mg, weekly: 1166.0±899.4 mg/145.2±176.6 mg/1166.7±892.8 mg, and monthly: 3461.1±4940.7 mg/201.5±274.0 mg/2750.0±3841.9 mg, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of analgesic and anti-inflammatory medication use among the elite-level Olympic-style weightlifters is very high.

KEY WORDS: Athletes; Analgesics; Nonprescription drugs; Anti-inflammatory agents; Acetaminophen