Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36896254›Full record

ArticleJournal of the Endocrine Society2023

Thyroid Hormone Abuse Among Elite Athletes.

David J Handelsman, Matti Gild, Roderick Clifton-Bligh, Naomi Speers, Dorothy Kouzios, Melissa C McMartin, Reena Desai

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the Endocrine Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Poisoning with Thyroid Hormones Used Illegally-Systematic Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

David J HandelsmanANZAC Research Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4200-7476
Matti GildDepartment of Endocrinology, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia.
Roderick Clifton-BlighDepartment of Endocrinology, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia.
Naomi SpeersSport Integrity Australia, Fyshwick, ACT 2609, Australia.
Dorothy KouziosDiagnostic Pathology, Concord Hospital, Concord, NSW 2139, Australia.
Melissa C McMartinANZAC Research Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia.
Reena DesaiANZAC Research Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia.
The University of Sydney · AUConcord Repatriation General Hospital · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Context: Thyroid hormone (TH) abuse for performance enhancement in sport remains controversial and it is not prohibited in sports under the World Anti-Doping Code. However, the prevalence of TH usage in athletes is not known. Objective: We investigated TH use among Australian athletes undergoing antidoping tests for competition in World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-compliant sports by measuring TH in serum and surveying mandatory doping control form (DCF) declarations by athletes of all drugs used in the week prior to the antidoping test. Methods: Serum thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), and reverse T3 were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and serum thyrotropin, free T4, and free T3 by immunoassays in 498 frozen serum samples from antidoping tests together with a separate set of 509 DCFs. Results: Two athletes had biochemical thyrotoxicosis giving a prevalence of 4 per 1000 athletes (upper 95% confidence limit [CL] 16). Similarly, only 2 of 509 DCFs declared usage of T4 and none for T3, also giving a prevalence of 4 (upper 95% CL 16) per 1000 athletes. These estimates were consistent with DCF analyses from international competitions and lower than the estimated T4 prescription rates in the age-matched Australian population. Conclusion: There is minimal evidence for TH abuse among Australian athletes being tested for competing in WADA-compliant sports.

Indexed as

athletedopingthyroid hormone

Identifiers

PMID36896254
PMCPMC9989342
OpenAlexW4321232438

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.