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Compared with the normal adult population, athletes of several sport disciplines, such as endurance sports, ball sports, cycling and swimming, have higher use of over-the-counter analgesics OTC analgesics.
The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of OTC analgesic use in volleyball players as a typical competitive sport discipline. A cross-sectional survey among amateur volleyball players was carried out using a web-based sports questionnaire.
The main reasons for consumption of OTC analgesics were pain in the head, knee and shoulder. The analysis of the AMS-Sport questionnaire revealed that a logistic regression model for estimating the probability of drug use can be explained by the factors hope of success and years of playing practise in female players but not male players. In females, an increase in the factor hope of success resulted in a lower probability of OTC analgesic use, while an increase in years of playing practise resulted in a higher probability of use.
The average duration that volleyball players in this study took OTC analgesics was higher than that of the German population, and OTC analgesic use was more prevalent in female than male volleyball players. Thus, to reduce the prevalence of OTC analgesic use, educational programs should be implemented in sports teams; and, to reduce direct and indirect social pressure, sports teams should also receive sex-specific psychological support.
