Analyzing the association between dietary supplementation and doping tendency in athletes: A cross-sectional study of swimming

Abstract

Doping is one of the most important problems in modern sports, and there is growing global concern regarding the potential link between dietary supplementation and doping among athletes. There is an evident lack of studies that have examined this problem in swimming, particularly concerning different types of dietary supplements. The objective of this study was to identify the possible associations between the consumption of various dietary supplements and doping tendencies among high-level swimmers. The study sample consisted of 301 competitive swimmers from Slovenia, with an average age of 16.7 years and an average of 9.2 years of experience (148 females). The variables analyzed included gender, age, swimming experience, questions on specific types of dietary supplements used, personal opinions on the prevalence of doping in swimming (predictors), and individual attitudes toward doping (criterion). The associations between the predictors and criterion were established via logistic regression, and for this purpose, the criterion was dichotomized (negative doping tendency vs. neutral/positive doping tendency). Male gender (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03–1.27), belief that doping is present in swimming (OR= 1.14, 95% CI: 1.01–1.31), and consumption of recovery supplements (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.03–1.64) were univariately associated with neutral/positive doping tendencies. When a multivariate design was applied to control for possible confounding effects, the consumption of recovery supplements was the only significant predictor of a neutral/positive doping tendency (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.02– 1.65). Our results support the hypothesis that the consumption of (legal) recovery supplements paves the way for doping due to factors such as psychological dependency, pressures to recover and perform, and an evolving acceptance of performance enhancement. Further studies in other sports are needed.