Conocimiento y actitudes sobre el dopaje en el Cuerpo Nacional de Policía

Abstract

Doping has been studied in sportspeople from various fields. No studies have been conducted on doping within the Police. Objectives: The primary objective is to determine whether police professional experience alters predisposition towards doping. The secondary objectives are to ascertain whether law enforcement personnel use doping, to investigate the motives that could lead them to doping and to determine what knowledge they have on doping. Materials and Methods: A transversal study was carried out through an opinion questionnaire that was designed for the purpose of measuring motivations, knowledge and the use of doping within the Spanish National Police, comparing the results between two groups: professionals and trainees. Results: 1173 trainees and 425 law enforcement professionals completed the questionnaire, reaching the determined sample size. 1% of them has employed or believes to have employed doping to enhance sporting performance. Most do not know anyone who has doped. Although the vast majority of them would not do it, 8.4% of respondents would dope or agree to dope for the sake of career advancement, 5.8% in exchange for economic gain, 5.1% in order to continue in his/her job and 3.7% with the aim of improving physical performance. Professionals are more willing to dope for all the reasons presented herein. The differences with trainees are statistically significant. Findings: Law enforcement professional experience predisposes more towards doping for all the reasons presented herein. Cases of possible doping remain exceptional, and, in general, the sentiment towards doping is negative. If any, doping cases would be mainly due to reasons of career advancement. Existing knowledge on doping within the Spanish National Police is deficient. [Resumen Teseo]