Prevalence of Drug Use in Ultraendurance Athletes.

PURPOSE: In competitive sport, classic methods of measuring drug prevalence, such as doping controls or questionnaires, are challenging. Here we describe a novel urine sampling method to measure drug use in athletes. We hypothesize that the prevalence of drug use in ultramarathon runners is measured more accurately with our sampling method than randomized-response questionnaires. METHODS: Urine samples and associated demographic data were collected from male participants using blind, automated urinals at the start of ultramarathon races. Various nonprohibited and prohibited substances were subsequently screened. Concomitantly, 2931 male and female runners participating in the same ultramarathons completed an anonymized, randomized-response questionnaire regarding drug use. RESULTS: Among 412 individual urine samples, 205 (49.8%) contained at least one substance, and 16.3% of the samples contained one or more prohibited substances. Substances detected in urine included nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) (22.1%), acetaminophen (15.5%), opioids (6.6%), diuretics (4.9%), hypnotics (4.4%), glucocorticoids (2.7%), beta-2 agonists (2.2%), cannabinoids (1.9%), and stimulants (1.2%). None of the samples contained erythropoietin-receptor agonists or suspicious testosterone. Drug use was not associated with the participants' characteristics or ranking. Respondents to the questionnaire reported using acetaminophen (13.6%) and NSAID (12.9%); however, no prohibited substances were declared. CONCLUSIONS: There was a high prevalence of drug use among male ultramarathon runners, in particular, NSAID and painkillers; however, performance-enhancing drugs were marginally used. Blind urine sampling highlighted prohibited drug use not declared in questionnaires, and it is useful to assess the prevalence of drug use and/or doping in competitive athletes.

Relative Age Effects and Self-Organized Sport Practices Among Adults.

Purpose: Given that previous research on relative age effects (RAEs) has only focused on organized sport, the aim of this exploratory study was to examine whether this phenomenon also existed among self-organized practitioners. In relation to that, a second aim was to know whether self-organized sport practices could be favored by late-born practitioners as a result of a strategic adaptation. Method(s): Representative sub-samples of 474 soccer players, 363 basketball players, 2,536 swimmers, 1,788 strength training practitioners, 1,873 pétanque players, 973 table tennis players and 2,136 runners were analyzed. Results: The results did not show any significant RAEs, including in sport practices that are sensitive to this phenomenon such as soccer or basketball. The results did not show any significant overrepresentation of late-born people either. Conclusion: This study suggests that self-organized sport practices are not impacted by the RAEs. This finding is interesting because self-organized sport practice is the most important one in numbers.

Sports practice in Japan and France: A comparative analysis.

This article aimed to compare the sports participation of populations from two distinct societies with huge cultural differences: France and Japan. At a macro-statistical level and using a societal approach based on two national ad-hoc surveys-in contrast with functionalist and culturalist analyses-it analysed the differences in sports participation between the two populations. The angle adopted for analysing sports participation was that of voraciousness (number and types of sports and physical activities practised). We performed a secondary analysis of a Japanese national ad-hoc survey and a French national ad-hoc survey (quotas sampling, June/July 2016), which reported activities precisely over the preceding 12 months. The two reconstructed samples for comparison concerned people aged between 18 and 70, and 46 PSAs and PSA families, making it possible to evaluate sports participation. The Japanese sample consisted of 2,612 individuals and the French sample of 3,791 individuals. To identify statistically significant differences between the two samples, Fisher's exact test and bootstrap approaches was used (boot package in R software). Sports participation and voraciousness for sport are higher in the French population than in the Japanese one. For the overall rate of sports practice, there is a difference of 8.2 points (95%CI[6.0;10.3], p<0.001), and the difference concerning the average number of activities practised by practitioners is 1.7 activity (95%CI[1.9;1.5], p<0.001). In both countries, young males have the highest level of sportiness. Age is an important variable with a lower difference between the youngest and oldest age groups for sports participation in Japan than in France: when compared to France, the difference in difference for the rate of no activity is 13.7 points (95%CI[6.3;21.1], p<0.001) and -2.3 activities for the average number of activities among practitioners (95%CI[-3.0;-1.7], p<0.001). Some physical and sports activities (PSAs) are specific to France (e.g. skiing with 12.7 points difference, 95%CI[11.3;14.1], p<0.001) and others to Japan, such as baseball (with 9.8 points difference 95%CI[8.6;11.0], p<0.001) or more traditional PSAs like Japanese calisthenics and radio exercise (at 15.9%). In contrast to France, Japan is still in the process of greatly modernising its sporting tradition as a result of its particular cultural dimensions. We can identify physical and sports activities which are specific to each country, as well as similar activities in the two countries and wider diversification in France. Voraciousness for sport is higher in France than in Japan. In both countries, the youngest age groups and men have the highest level of sportiness. Yet, the difference between the youngest and the oldest group is smaller in Japan due to the pressure of work.

The team effect on doping in professional male road cycling (2005-2016).

This article questions organizations' (clubs, teams, etc) responsibility in doping use from the case of anti-doping rules violations (ADRVs) sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale in professional cycling. We built a database with 271 caught riders among 10 551 professional riders employed from 2005 to 2016 in the three first world divisions. We developed a time-discrete event history model with a multilevel perspective to consider if the ADRV is related to the characteristic of a rider's career path (level 1) and/or the team by which the rider is employed (level 2). Our results confirm two hypotheses: Beginning a career before 2005 or after the age of 22 increased the risk of being caught. Each additional year in the pack increased the risk, despite the fact that a sanctioned rider's career duration average is 7.8 years (3.9 for the others). These caught riders have experienced a more tumultuous career with team changes and an interrupted path. A 2.45 Median Odds Ratio led us to assert a team effect on ADRV. By a team residual effect calculation, we identify 17 teams with a significant effect within the 129 that experienced an ADRV. Our results allow us to emphasize that to understand doping we must take into account work and employment condition, as well as team's organization. This approach completes the dominant "methodological individualism" perspective that considers athletes as analytical units and provides guidelines to the anti-doping bodies that focus their action on individuals.

Doping risk and career turning points in male elite road cycling (2005-2016).

OBJECTIVES: Determine whether career paths of elite male professional riders explain the risk of being sanctioned for an Anti-Doping Rules Violation through the International Cycling Union. DESIGN, METHODS: A discrete-time logit model explored the link between career path and ADRV risk in a database of 10,551 riders engaged in the first three world divisions (2005-2016), including 271 sanctioned riders. RESULTS: Despite a longer career (7.8years), sanctioned riders have a precarious path. The odds of finding a sanctioned rider within those who experienced a career interruption is 5.80 times higher than for a non-caught one. 61% of the caught riders have experienced a team change. The odds of finding a caught rider within those who experienced such a change is 1.35 times higher. 44% of caught riders start before 23years, vs 34% for non-sanctioned ones. The odds of being sanctioned are 1.69 times higher for doped riders beginning before 23. The odds of finding a sanctioned rider are 1.94 times higher among those starting their careers before 2005 (establishment of Pro Tour), than those who started in 2008 or after. In that year, the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation and the biologic passport were both launched. CONCLUSIONS: Caught riders could have extended their more precarious careers with doping. The post-2005 generation effect could mean that riders are cleaner or slicker at hiding doping. The higher risk of being caught for riders starting after 23 might indicate that an early professional socialization reduces the risk by teaching them to be cleaner, or better at hiding doping.

The dangerousness of mountain recreation: A quantitative overview of fatal and non-fatal accidents in France.

In France, there is a growing enthusiasm for outdoor sports and recreation. In the meantime, the risk of both severe and frequent injury associated with active pursuits in mountain areas is acknowledged. This paper tackles accidents related to mountain sports, with a focus on three critical activities: hiking, mountaineering and ski touring. The aim consists of estimating the actual number of accidents (whether they entailed deaths or injuries) in the three above-mentioned activities. In order to align the information collected, then provide estimations based on the reasoned crossing of these secondary data, we consulted and summarised all the databases available on the French territory. Results address the trauma-related mortality in absolute values, and a comparison with the death rate of other sports. The calculation of a mortality index, including secondary mortality, is then provided. Elements of mountain sports accidentality are also presented, intending to clarify how many casualities occur each year in the French mountains. Last, a focus on the particularities of each mountain sport is provided.