Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38981660›Full record

Observational studyBritish journal of sports medicine2024

Prevalence of therapeutic use exemptions at the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games: an analysis of data from 2016 to 2022.

Alan Vernec, David Healy, Tamar Banon, Andrea Petroczi

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in British journal of sports medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

4 authors.

Alan VernecScience and Medicine, World Anti-Doping Agency, Montreal, Quebec, Canada alan.vernec@wada-ama.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7127-192X
David HealyScience and Medicine, World Anti-Doping Agency, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Tamar BanonScience and Medicine, World Anti-Doping Agency, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1912-4161
Andrea PetrocziSchool of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistery, Kingston University, Kingston, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8365-6173

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe objectives of this study are to describe the prevalence of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) among athletes competing in four Olympic and four Paralympic games. The secondary objective was to present the prohibited substance and methods classes associated with TUEs.

methodsData from the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System were extracted for this cross-sectional observation study. Eight cohorts were created to include athletes with TUEs who competed in the Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic games. Prevalence of TUEs and proportion of prohibited substance and methods classes were defined as percentages among all athletes competing at each games.

results28 583 athletes competed in four editions of the Olympic games. Total prevalence of athletes with TUEs was 0.90% among all competitors. At the four Paralympic games, a total of 9852 athletes competed and the total TUE prevalence was 2.76%. The most frequently observed substances associated with TUEs at the Summer Olympics were glucocorticoids (0.50% in Rio) and stimulants (0.39% in Tokyo). At the Summer Paralympics, diuretics (0.79% in Rio) and stimulants (0.75% in Tokyo) were the most common. Winter games had somewhat similar trends, although TUE numbers were very low.

conclusionsThe number of athletes competing with valid TUEs at the Olympic and Paralympic games was <1% and <3%, respectively. Variations in substances and methods associated with TUEs for different medical conditions were identified. Nevertheless, numbers were low, further reaffirming that TUEs are not widespread in elite sport.

Indexed as

Doping in SportsAnniversaries and Special EventsAthletesCentral Nervous System StimulantsCross-Sectional StudiesDiureticsGlucocorticoidsHumansMalePrevalenceSportsSports for Persons with DisabilitiesCentral Nervous System StimulantsDiureticsGlucocorticoidsAthletesDoping in SportsHealthPara-AthletesSports medicine

Identifiers

PMID38981660
PMCPMC11420731

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.