Drug and Dietary Supplement Inquiries by College Athletes
Drug and Dietary Supplement Inquiries by College Athletes
The study was approved by the Committee on Human Research at the University of California, San Francisco. Data were collected for the period of July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, and followed similar methodology as in the previous study. Data from the drug lookup feature of the database consisted of the name of the drug (brand or generic name), the date of the inquiry, and the outcome of the inquiry (i.e., if the drug was banned or not banned). When an inquiry involved a medication not listed in the drug lookup feature, the status field would appear blank and a notice would appear advising the user to submit the request using the BDI submission process by phone, e-mail, or online submission. For BDI submissions, information was obtained about the method of submission (i.e., online, e-mail, phone), the specific question submitted, and the outcome or response from the REC. Inquirers were prompted, but not required, to indicate their athletic involvement (athlete, athletic trainer, coach, director of athletics, strength coach, parent, or other), the sport associated with the inquiry, their NCAA division, and their gender. For the purposes of data analysis, submissions with multiple substances or questions were considered multiple individual inquiries. For example, if a submission requested the banned status for three different substances, it was considered three unique inquiries. For inquiries about specific substances, the outcome was categorized as banned, not banned, specifically banned for rifle, or not specifically banned. The last category was used for dietary supplements that did not contain a known or labeled banned substance but required careful consideration due to the lack of adequate purity standards and contamination safeguards for dietary supplements. Table 1 lists the NCAA banned classes of drugs for 2009–10. All data were supplied by NCDFS as a Microsoft Excel 2003 file (Microsoft, Redmond, WA).
Substances were categorized as prescription medications, nonprescription medications, dietary supplements, street drugs, or other. If a medication was available both with and without a prescription, it was categorized as a nonprescription medication unless the inquiry specifically included information to determine otherwise (e.g., dose, brand name). Dietary supplements were defined as any product taken by mouth (tablets, capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids, or powders) that contained a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet and could include vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, glandulars, and metabolites. Extracts and concentrates also were considered dietary supplements according to the definition provided by the Food and Drug Administration. The main ingredients of dietary supplements, as listed by the manufacturer, were the basis for categorization, and many contained multiple main ingredients that were categorized.
Methods
The study was approved by the Committee on Human Research at the University of California, San Francisco. Data were collected for the period of July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, and followed similar methodology as in the previous study. Data from the drug lookup feature of the database consisted of the name of the drug (brand or generic name), the date of the inquiry, and the outcome of the inquiry (i.e., if the drug was banned or not banned). When an inquiry involved a medication not listed in the drug lookup feature, the status field would appear blank and a notice would appear advising the user to submit the request using the BDI submission process by phone, e-mail, or online submission. For BDI submissions, information was obtained about the method of submission (i.e., online, e-mail, phone), the specific question submitted, and the outcome or response from the REC. Inquirers were prompted, but not required, to indicate their athletic involvement (athlete, athletic trainer, coach, director of athletics, strength coach, parent, or other), the sport associated with the inquiry, their NCAA division, and their gender. For the purposes of data analysis, submissions with multiple substances or questions were considered multiple individual inquiries. For example, if a submission requested the banned status for three different substances, it was considered three unique inquiries. For inquiries about specific substances, the outcome was categorized as banned, not banned, specifically banned for rifle, or not specifically banned. The last category was used for dietary supplements that did not contain a known or labeled banned substance but required careful consideration due to the lack of adequate purity standards and contamination safeguards for dietary supplements. Table 1 lists the NCAA banned classes of drugs for 2009–10. All data were supplied by NCDFS as a Microsoft Excel 2003 file (Microsoft, Redmond, WA).
Substances were categorized as prescription medications, nonprescription medications, dietary supplements, street drugs, or other. If a medication was available both with and without a prescription, it was categorized as a nonprescription medication unless the inquiry specifically included information to determine otherwise (e.g., dose, brand name). Dietary supplements were defined as any product taken by mouth (tablets, capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids, or powders) that contained a "dietary ingredient" intended to supplement the diet and could include vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, glandulars, and metabolites. Extracts and concentrates also were considered dietary supplements according to the definition provided by the Food and Drug Administration. The main ingredients of dietary supplements, as listed by the manufacturer, were the basis for categorization, and many contained multiple main ingredients that were categorized.
