Popping pills in youth elite sports - fact or fiction? A 36-week prospective cohort study of analgesic use in 1195 youth elite athletes and student controls.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate analgesic use in a cohort of Danish youth elite athletes, and compare weekly analgesic use over 36 weeks to student controls. We also investigated and compared reasons for analgesic use and types of analgesics used. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHODS: 690 youth elite athletes (44% females) and 505 student controls (59% females) (age 15-20 years) provided weekly reports on analgesic use over 36 weeks. We asked about number of days with analgesic use, reasons for use, and types of analgesics used. Prevalence and frequency of analgesic use was compared between youth elite athletes and student controls using mixed effects logistic regression and mixed effects Poisson regression models. Reasons for and types of analgesics used was compared between groups using Chi-square tests. Subgroup analyses were performed, stratified by sex. RESULTS: Overall, athletes had lower odds of analgesic use (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.95) compared with student controls. The overall usage rate was similar between the groups (IRR 1.04, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.11). Subgroup analyses suggested no statistically significant differences in the odds of analgesic use. Significantly more athletes reported using analgesics to prevent or treat pain or injury in relation to sports participation and to use topical gels compared with student controls. CONCLUSION: Participating in youth elite sports was associated with lower odds of analgesic use compared to student controls, but usage rate was similar between the groups. Reasons for use and types of analgesics use differed between athletes and student controls.