Health status of South African masters swimmers, their medication use and attitudes towards doping

Abstract

Abstract Aim: The main aim of this study was to report on the health status and associated medication use of South African masters swimmers. Design and method: A cross-sectional design that utilised an online survey to collect quantitative data was employed. Initial purposive sampling of the swimmers in the South African Masters Swimming (SAMS) database was broadened to snowball sampling to target a representative sample of competitive and recreational masters swimmers. Participation in the survey was anonymous and voluntary. Results: A total of 350 masters swimmers (50.7% female, 48.7% male) in five-year age categories (range 25 to 89) with a mean age (51.3 + 1.5 years) completed the survey. Two swimmers did not disclose their gender. Prevalence of chronic disease was 38.7%, 95% CI (0.34, 0.44) with 22.4% of participants reporting one chronic disease and 16.5% reporting multi-morbidity. There was a significant (p<0.001) weak positive relationship between chronic disease and age (r=0.24). There was a significant (p<0.001), weak positive relationship (r=0.26) between number of chronic diseases and age. The study population prevalence for chronic medication use was 33.7%. Results show lower chronic disease prevalence in the masters swimmers compared to general population statistics. Participants reported an injury prevalence of 26.1% in the five years preceding the survey with injuries in the shoulder region most frequently reported (18.1%) with tendinitis (9.7%) being the most frequently reported shoulder injury. Over 16% of the participants took medication to treat injury or illness shortly before or during competitions. The most commonly used medications were Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (15%), analgesics (4.5%) and cortisone (2.5%). Conclusion: Chronic disease prevalence and the number of chronic diseases increase with age in masters swimmers. Injury prevalence in masters swimmers decreased with increased age. A high percentage of masters swimmers use chronic medication to treat chronic disease as well as illness and injury shortly before or during competitions.