Peter Greenway, Mary Greenway
BrJ7Sports Med 1997;31:129-131
Langley Corner Surgery, Ifield, Crawley, West Sussex RHIl ONF, United Kingdom
Objectives - To assess general practitioner knowledge of banned substances in sport.
Methods - Postal questionnaire sent to all general practitioners in West Sussex.
Results - Only 55 (35%) of those who responded (157 in total) were aware that guidelines are to be found in the British National Formulary, and 19 (12%) of respondents believed that medical practitioners are allowed to prescribe anabolic steroids for non-medical reasons.
Conclusions - General practitioner knowledge of which substances are prohibited in sports is poor. There is a lack of awareness
of Sports Council guidelines which are to be found in the British National Formulary. Tackling drug abuse in sport requires
education of both athletes and doctors.
