TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence, frequency, adverse events, and reasons for analgesic use in youth athletes
T2 - A systematic review and meta-analysis of 44,381 athletes
AU - Pedersen, Julie Rønne
AU - Andreucci, Alessandro
AU - Thorlund, Jonas Bloch
AU - Koes, Bart
AU - Møller, Merete
AU - Storm, Louise Kamuk
AU - Bricca, Alessio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Objectives: To identify the prevalence, frequency, adverse effects, and reasons for analgesic use in youth athletes. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Systematic searches in Embase, Medline, and SPORT-Discus from inception to September 2021, screening of reference lists, and citation tracking were performed to identify observational studies including athletes aged 15–24 years and reporting data on prevalence and/or frequency of analgesic use. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Random-effect proportion meta-analyses, stratified by type of analgesic medication and prevalence measure, estimated the prevalence of analgesic use. Data on usage frequency, adverse events, and reasons for analgesic use was synthesized narratively. Results: Forty-nine studies were included (44,381 athletes), of which 19 were good/high quality. Seven categories of analgesics were identified across 10 prevalence time-points. Meta-analyses suggested common use of NSAIDs (point prevalence 48 % [95 % CI 23 % to 73 %], in-season prevalence 92 % [95 % CI 88 % to 95 %]). The lowest prevalence was found for use of local anesthetic injections within the previous 12 months (2 % [95 % CI 1 % to 3 %]). Seven to 50 % of athletes reported weekly analgesics use. The proportion of adverse events ranged from 3.3 % to 19.2 %. Reasons for using analgesics included treatment of sports-related pain or injury, to treat illness, and to enhance performance. Conclusions: Analgesics are commonly used in youth athletes, but estimates vary depending on type of analgesic and prevalence measure. As the majority of studies were of poor methodological quality, future high-quality research should include prospective data collection of analgesic use to understand consumption trajectories.
AB - Objectives: To identify the prevalence, frequency, adverse effects, and reasons for analgesic use in youth athletes. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Systematic searches in Embase, Medline, and SPORT-Discus from inception to September 2021, screening of reference lists, and citation tracking were performed to identify observational studies including athletes aged 15–24 years and reporting data on prevalence and/or frequency of analgesic use. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Random-effect proportion meta-analyses, stratified by type of analgesic medication and prevalence measure, estimated the prevalence of analgesic use. Data on usage frequency, adverse events, and reasons for analgesic use was synthesized narratively. Results: Forty-nine studies were included (44,381 athletes), of which 19 were good/high quality. Seven categories of analgesics were identified across 10 prevalence time-points. Meta-analyses suggested common use of NSAIDs (point prevalence 48 % [95 % CI 23 % to 73 %], in-season prevalence 92 % [95 % CI 88 % to 95 %]). The lowest prevalence was found for use of local anesthetic injections within the previous 12 months (2 % [95 % CI 1 % to 3 %]). Seven to 50 % of athletes reported weekly analgesics use. The proportion of adverse events ranged from 3.3 % to 19.2 %. Reasons for using analgesics included treatment of sports-related pain or injury, to treat illness, and to enhance performance. Conclusions: Analgesics are commonly used in youth athletes, but estimates vary depending on type of analgesic and prevalence measure. As the majority of studies were of poor methodological quality, future high-quality research should include prospective data collection of analgesic use to understand consumption trajectories.
KW - Analgesics
KW - Athletes
KW - Pain
KW - Sport
KW - Prevalence
KW - Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/adverse effects
KW - Humans
KW - Adolescent
KW - Analgesics/adverse effects
KW - Anesthetics, Local
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137681774&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jsams.2022.08.018
DO - 10.1016/j.jsams.2022.08.018
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36100523
AN - SCOPUS:85137681774
SN - 1440-2440
VL - 25
SP - 810
EP - 819
JO - Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
JF - Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
IS - 10
ER -