A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study of Knowledge of Doping at Grassroot Level in India

Doping is termed as the use of banned drugs or methods to increase an athlete's performance and the concealment or attempted concealment of such use. Doping is a significant issue in the world of athletics. This study aims to assess doping knowledge among school physical education teachers (PET) of one sample district of Karnataka, India. Descriptive research was conducted using a cross-sectional, complete enumeration approach with 308 PET The questionnaire developed by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was approved for use in testing doping knowledge. Descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to explain PET demographic variables and knowledge assessment. Out of 308, one hundred ninety-three (62.66%) are males with an average age of 45.61 ± 8.33 and One hundred fifteen (37.34%) respondents were females with a mean age of 44.69 ± 8.36 years. 268 PET has Poor knowledge (87%), 27 PET has Intermediate knowledge (9%), and 13 High knowledge (4%) of doping. The current study findings highlighted a lack of knowledge of PET in the aspect of Doping. Physical Education Teachers play a vital role to train and mentor younger children at sports in schools. Training physical education teachers in Doping will help create awareness and sustainable education about anti-doping practices among children.