SynthesisSports health
Opioid Use in Athletes: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Sports health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Opioid Pain Medication Use in Athletes.Cureus · 2026Review
- Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement (2026).British journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Pain Management in Italian Elite Athletes: Trends in the Use of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), Glucocorticoids, and Narcotics in Anti-Doping Reports (2013-2023).Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Unlocking Performance: Pharmacogenomic Insights for Athletes.Sports medicine international open · 2026Review
- Effects of the Six Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine on the Performance of High School Athletes: A Systematic Review.American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2025Article
- Next-Generation Approaches in Sports Medicine: The Role of Genetics, Omics, and Digital Health in Optimizing Athlete Performance and Longevity-A Narrative Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Relative Effectiveness of Physical Therapy and Pain Medication in Managing Sports-related Injuries.Orthopedic reviews · 2025Article
- Cannabinoid Therapy in Athletics: A Review of Current Cannabis Research to Evaluate Potential Real-World Cannabinoid Applications in Sport.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Review
- Pain, impairment, medication use and health-related quality of life of retired professional rugby players.South African journal of sports medicine · 2024Article
- Midlife health crisis of former competitive athletes: dissecting their experiences via qualitative study.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Parents, Pain, and Over-the-Counter Medicine: Athletes' Perceived Alternatives to Prescription Opioid Misuse.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Molecular and Epigenetic Aspects of Opioid Receptors in Drug Addiction and Pain Management in Sport.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Substance availability and use in ex-professional ice hockey enforcers.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Substance Use and Addiction in Athletes: The Case for Neuromodulation and Beyond.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- The Student Athlete Wellness Portal: Translating Student Athletes' Prescription Opioid Use Narratives into a Targeted Public Health Intervention.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Opiate Use Patterns Among Collegiate Athletes.Cureus · 2022Article
- Pharmacological Treatment for Acute Traumatic Musculoskeletal Pain in Athletes.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Review
- Opioids and Youth Athletes.Sports healthReview
- Drugs in Sports.Sports healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextThe opioid epidemic has been well-documented in the general population, but the literature pertaining to opioid use and misuse in the athletic population remains limited.
objectivesThe objectives of this study were to seek answers to the following questions: (1) what are the rates of opioid use and misuse among athletes, (2) do these rates differ compared with the nonathletic population, and (3) are there specific subgroups of the athletic population (eg, based on sport, level of play) who may be at higher risk? DATA SOURCES: The Embase, MEDLINE, and PubMed were used for the literature search. STUDY SELECTION: Records were screened in duplicate for studies reporting rates of opioid use among athletes. All study designs were included. STUDY
designSystematic review. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4. DATA EXTRACTION: Data regarding rates of opioid use, medication types, prescription patterns, and predictors of future opioid use were collected. Study quality was assessed using the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) criteria for clinical studies and 5 key domains previously identified for survey studies.
resultsA total of 11 studies were eligible for inclusion (N = 226,256 athletes). Studies included survey studies and retrospective observational designs. Opioid use among professional athletes at any given time, as reported in 2 different studies, ranged from 4.4% to 4.7%, while opioid use over a National Football League career was 52%. High school athletes had lifetime opioid use rates of 28% to 46%. Risk factors associated with opioid use included Caucasian race, contact sports (hockey, football, wrestling), postretirement unemployment, and undiagnosed concussion. Use of opioids while playing predicted use of opioids in retirement.
conclusionOverall, opioid use is prevalent among athletes, and use during a playing career predicts postretirement use. This issue exists even at the high school level, with similar rates to professional athletes. Further higher quality observational studies are needed to better define patterns of opioid use in athletes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.