Sports doping: Knowledge and attitudes of athletes from Algerian sports high schools

Objective. - Over the last few years, sport doping has occupied a major part in sport's actuality. Even if this field is well treated in many countries, the situation is still very deficient in Algeria. It has identified several issues relating to the knowledge of the phenomenon, its width but also its practice. Methods. - Our study focuses on knowledge, attitudes and practices investigations (KAP) based on questionnaires, which were submitted to a sample of 738 sport's high schools. Results. - Sport's high schools generally do not have the necessary knowledge concerning doping, in general. Doping is still rarely discussed during school or sports courses program. The statements of doping cases of student from sport's high school are 16.4%. To improve their performances, sport's high schools use a variety of products not all, prohibited such as proteins and vitamins. The major sports, affected are collective sports (football, handball and basketball) and cycling. Conclusion. - Data reported by our study, although not exhaustive, represent a serious concern about the true extent of the issue. It appears essential to implement a targeted prevention strategy in order to improve our athlete's knowledge, correct their behaviour regarding doping, and so, prevent doping progression. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.