{"title":"Knowledge, education, and opinion regarding the use of over-the-counter medications amongst college athletes.","authors":"Lauren Hapgood, Shantanu Rao","doi":"10.1080/15438627.2026.2690516","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over-the-counter (OTC) medications are commonly used in the United States. However, limited healthcare supervision can cause medical complications due to misuse and/or lack of knowledge about dosing and adverse effects. To understand the knowledge gap, a cross-sectional, anonymous survey was distributed to NCAA Division II athletes in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Survey participants (N = 173) were moderately to not confident about the adverse effects (74.0%) and dosing (62%) of OTC medications. The majority of participants (81%) had moderate to no education about OTC medications. OTC medication users for allergy/sinus (51%) and digestive health (48%) were unaware of the adverse effects of these medications. Lastly, a lack of confidence about the adverse effects had a strong correlation with a lack of confidence in dosing OTC medications (<i>p</i> < 0.001). This study revealed a significant use of OTC medications amongst college athletes, along with the lack of adequate knowledge about dosing and adverse effects of OTC medications.</p>","PeriodicalId":20958,"journal":{"name":"Research in Sports Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2026-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Research in Sports Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15438627.2026.2690516","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SPORT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications are commonly used in the United States. However, limited healthcare supervision can cause medical complications due to misuse and/or lack of knowledge about dosing and adverse effects. To understand the knowledge gap, a cross-sectional, anonymous survey was distributed to NCAA Division II athletes in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Survey participants (N = 173) were moderately to not confident about the adverse effects (74.0%) and dosing (62%) of OTC medications. The majority of participants (81%) had moderate to no education about OTC medications. OTC medication users for allergy/sinus (51%) and digestive health (48%) were unaware of the adverse effects of these medications. Lastly, a lack of confidence about the adverse effects had a strong correlation with a lack of confidence in dosing OTC medications (p < 0.001). This study revealed a significant use of OTC medications amongst college athletes, along with the lack of adequate knowledge about dosing and adverse effects of OTC medications.
期刊介绍：
Research in Sports Medicine is a broad journal that aims to bridge the gap between all professionals in the fields of sports medicine. The journal serves an international audience and is of interest to professionals worldwide. The journal covers major aspects of sports medicine and sports science - prevention, management, and rehabilitation of sports, exercise and physical activity related injuries. The journal publishes original research utilizing a wide range of techniques and approaches, reviews, commentaries and short communications.
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