ABSTRACT
Meaningful data on the prevalence of use of performance-enhancing drugs in
sport are diffi cult to obtain. Evidence may be as diverse as statistics on positive
dope tests, results of surveys of athletes (of either their self-reported use or
of their perceptions of drug use by others), through to anecdotal reports and
investigative journalism (Yesalis et al., 2001). These sources of evidence are inconsistent, leading to speculation of levels of prevalence of drug use ranging
from less than 1 per cent to more than 90 per cent. A number of studies have been
undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of doping within individual countries or
sports. However, it has been suggested that such studies generally underestimate
the problem due to small sample populations (Lippi et al., 2008). The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the published evidence and to comment on the validity
and accuracy of this evidence.
