Correlates of doping among athletes in Nigeria

Abstract

The use of drugs by the majority of Nigerian athletes to improve their performance for personal gain and to relieve discomfort is alarmingly on the rise. This study was conducted to examine the knowledge and attitudes toward doping among Nigerian athletes. At the national camps for wrestling, weightlifting, and athletics held in preparation for the 2019 12th African Games in Morocco, information on demographics, knowledge, and attitudes of usage of performance-enhancing drugs was gathered through the administration of a well-structured questionnaire. 122 respondents were selected using a stratified sample procedure. The study's data were analyzed using SPSS to produce ANOVA and t-test procedures. Findings revealed that the knowledge of athletes in the studied population about performance-enhancing drugs was inadequate. According to the participant's attitude towards doping, the findings revealed a grand mean of 2.68 (SD=1.37) which indicated a negative attitude towards performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Furthermore, the study findings revealed that there was an association between age group and doping knowledge, but no correlation between knowledge and gender. To ensure the reduction in the use of drugs to enhance performance in sports, it was recommended that intentional efforts should be made by the stakeholders to design a doping awareness campaign to educate athletes on the dangers of doping with a guarantee that such a campaign is efficiently implemented.