Dopage and sport: knowledges and attitudes of pharmacists in Yaounde

Introduction - Fourty-one retail pharmacists (23 females and 18 males) out of 70 that Yaounde town counts, participated to this study aimed at determining their attitudes towards and knowledge in doping. They answered a questionnaire concerning their knowledge of doping agents, how they face doping and the role of pharmacists in doping prevention. Synthesis - Results suggest that pharmacists (54%) have been confronted to doping, less than once a month for 27% of them and at least once a month for the rest. Six pharmacists (15%) have been offered to provide doping agents to sport men. 51% (mainly females) consider that the use of food supplements could induce consumption of forbidden drugs. The majority (83%) of pharmacists (mainly females) consider that doping is a public health problem. They agree (88%) that pharmacists have a part to play in doping prevention but also agree (58%; mainly females) that they are poorly or very poorly informed to that effect. Conclusion - The requests made to pharmacists suggest the consumption of doping agents by sport men in our region. It is therefore necessary to carry out an epidemiologic study on prevalence and consumption patterns. (C) 2002 additions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.