Preventive Health Perspective in Sports Medicine: The Trend at the Use of Medications and Nutritional Supplements during 5 Years Period between 2003 and 2008 in Football

Objective: To assess the prevalence of medication and nutritional supplement use in male Football Super League players and to observe the long term changes of playersa#39; attitudes during 5 years period (4 seasons). Study Design: Retrospective study. Material and Methods: Review and analysis of 4176 doping control forms -declaration reports- about playersa#39; medication intake including; Super League, UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League matches. Team physician was asked to document all medications and nutritional supplements taken by the Football Super League players in the last 72 hours before each match. Results: A total intake of 5939 substances were documented, of which almost half 49.2% (n=2921) were classified as medications and 50.8% (n=3018) were nutritional supplements. The average consumption per player was 1.42 substance/match; 0.70 were medications and 0.72 of nutritional supplements. The supplements used most frequently were NSAIDs 24.6% (n=1460) accounting for almost one in four of all reported supplements. Diclofenac Sodium was the most frequently reported active pharmaceutical ingredient. Second most frequently used supplements were vitamins (22.2%). The average drug consumption reported per player has been increasing every passing year. It was 0.7 substance/match/player (0.4 medication; 0.3 nutritional supplement) in 2003-2004 season; was increased to 1.8 substance/match (0.8 medication; 1.0 nutritional supplement) in 2006-2007 season. Conclusion: The trends seen in this survey point to an overuse of NSAIDs and vitamins in comparison with other medications, amoung Turkish Super League football players (palt;0.001). The use of NSAIDs has increased but the medication groups did not differ significantly between seasons, in terms of distribution. This increasing use of medications especially of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and nutritional supplements is alarming and needs to be argued. Turkish Baslik: Spor Hekimliginde Koruyucu Tip Bakis Acisi: 2003 ve 2008 yillari Arasi 5 yillik donemde profesyonel futbolcularin ilac ve besin takviyeleri kullanim trendleri Anahtar Kelimeler: Kullanimi serbest ilaclar, besin takviyeleri, doping Amac: Futbol Super Ligi oyunculari (erkek) arasinda ilac ve besin takviyesi kullaniminin yayginligini degerlendirmek ve 5 yillik donemde (4 sezon) sporcularin ilac kullanimlarindaki uzun vadeli degisimleri gorebilmek. Gerec ve Yontemler: Futbolcularin ve futbol takim doktorlarinin her musabaka oncesi 72 saatlik sure icerisinde kullandiklari ilaclari bir raporlarla bildirimleri zorunludur. Bu calismada futbolcularin; Super Lig, UEFA Kupasi, ve UEFA Şampiyonlar Ligi maclari oncesi bildirim zorunlulugu olan 4176 adet doping kontrol ve ilac bildirim raporunun degerlendirilmesi ve analizi yapilmistir. Bulgular: Kaydedilen toplam 5939 farmakolojik maddeden % 49.2'si (n=2921) tibbi ilac; % 50.8'i (n=3018) besin takviyesi idi. Oyuncularda mac basina kullanilan madde ortalama 1.42 adetti. Bunun yaklasik olarak esit bir dagilimla; 0.70'sinin ilac, 0.72' sinin besin takviyesi oldugu goruldu. En cok kullanilan ilac %24.6'lik oranla (n=1460) NSAII grubuydu. Bu sonucla neredeyse raporlanan her dort maddeden birinin NSAII oldugu goruldu. Diklofenak sodyum kullanimi en sik olan NSAII olarak bulundu. NSAII grubunu %22.2'lik oranla vitaminler izliyordu. Her oyuncu icin mac basi ortalama ilac kullanimi her sene artan bir oranla; 2003-2004 sezonunda 0.7 (0.4'u ilac, 0.3'u besin takviyesi) iken, oranin 2006-2007 sezonunda 1.8 e (0.8'i ilac, 1.0'i besin takviyesi) kadar yukseldigi goruldu. Sonuc: Bu arastirma Turkiye'de Super Lig Futbolculari arasinda ilac kullanim egiliminde NSAII'larin ve vitaminlerin diger ilaclara gore asiri kullanimini isaret etmektedir (palt;0.001). Sezonlar arasinda dagilim baglaminda bakildiginda NSAII kullanimi artmakla beraber kullanilan ilac gruplarinin birbirine oranlari anlamli farklilik gostermemektedir. Sporcularda ilaclarin ve besin takviyelerinin artan kullanimi endise vericidir ve bulgular konunun yeni calismalarla desteklenme ve tartisilma ihtiyacini ortaya koymaktadir.