Mojca Doupona Topič

Doping awareness, views, and experience: a comparison between general practitioners and pharmacists

ZusammenfassungZWECK DER STUDIE: Informationen zum Dopingbewusstsein unter Medizinern und Pharmazeuten sind gering. Wir haben die persönliche Haltung, den Wissensstand, und die Erfahrungen zu Doping bei Allgemeinen Praktikern (AP) und Apothekern (A) untersucht. METHODEN: Im Rahmen einer repräsentativen nationalen Querschnittstudie wurde ein Fragebogen zu 59 Elementen zum Thema Doping an 645 AP and 330 A geschickt. ERGEBNISSE: Insgesamt wurden 204 von 975 (AP 133, A 71) Fragebögen beantwortet und ausgewertet. Weniger als die Hälfte (AP 39% vs. A 48%; p = 0.702) der Befragten kannten die formale Definition von Doping. Die Abkürzung WADA wurde korrekt von 42 % (AP 33 % vs. A 59 %; p = 0,003) interpretiert, und 65 % wussten, dass die Europäische Kommission die Gesetzgebung für Dopingbekämpfung hat. Mehr AP als A (69 % vs. 31 %; p = 0,005) stimmten zu, eine Rolle bei der Doping-Prävention zu haben. Ähnliche Verhältnisse haben wir für die Kenntnisse im Bereich der Prävention (AP 65 % vs. A 35 %; p = 0,369) beobachtet. Insgesamt berichteten 12 % der Befragten (8,7 % AP, 19,3 % A) direkt mit einer Anfrage für die Verschreibung von Dopingmitteln in den letzten 12 Monaten (in erster Linie Stimulanzen, Anabolika, Hormone, Kortikosteroide) konfrontiert gewesen zu sein. SCHLUSSFOLGERUNGEN: AP und A sind häufig mit Fragen und konkreten Forderungen nach Doping konfrontiert. Das Allgemeinwissen wurde als akzeptabel eingeschätzt wobei weiterführende Informationen, insbesondere über verbotene Substanzen und rechtliche Belange zum Thema Doping notwendig wären.SummaryPURPOSE: Information about doping awareness among medical professionals is scarce. We evaluated the attitudes, level of knowledge and experience among general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists (Ps) with regard to doping. METHODS: In a cross-sectional national survey a 59-item self-administered questionnaire was sent to a representative random sample of 645 GPs and 330 Ps. RESULTS: Overall, 204/975 (133 GPs, 71 Ps) questionnaires were returned and available for analysis. Fewer than half (39% GPs vs. 48% Ps, P = 0.702) of respondents were familiar with the formal definition of doping. The abbreviation WADA was correctly interpreted by 42% (33% vs. 59%, P = 0.003), and 65% knew that the European Commission has the legislation to fight against doping. More GPs (69% vs. 31%, P = 0.005) agreed to have a role to play in doping prevention, similar proportions considering themselves to have sufficient knowledge of prevention initiatives (65% vs. 35%, P = 0.369). Overall, 12% of respondents (8.7% GPs, 19.3% Ps) reported being directly confronted with a request for prescription of doping agents in the previous 12 months (mainly stimulants, anabolic agents, hormones, corticosteroids). CONCLUSIONS: GPs and Ps are frequently exposed to questions about and requests for doping agents. They have acceptable level of general knowledge but are in need for more specific information on prohibited substances and legislature.

Assessing the sociology of sport: On sport and the challenges of post-socialist countries

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, one of the most important Eastern European scholars in the sociology of sport, Mojca Doupona Topic, reflects on the character of early engagement with the field by scholars in her region and the more recent challenges that scholars in post-socialist countries have in continued disciplinary dialogue. Doupona Topic notes the essential role that the IRSS played in publishing the work of Eastern bloc scholars in the formative years of the sociology of sport; here studies centred on the positive roles of sport in effective socialization and worker productivity with little focus on critical issues, such as violence, doping or other forms of deviance. More recent work has shifted from assessing the positive social roles of sport to understand sport’s role in national identities, its connection with globalization processes and in facilitating social change. A key challenge for scholars in post-socialist countries will be to recover from the economic crises of recent y...On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, one of the most important Eastern European scholars in the sociology of sport, Mojca Doupona Topič, reflects on the character of early engagement with the field by scholars in her region and the more recent challenges that scholars in post-socialist countries have in continued disciplinary dialogue. Doupona Topič notes the essential role that the IRSS played in publishing the work of Eastern bloc scholars in the formative years of the sociology of sport; here studies centred on the positive roles of sport in effective socialization and worker productivity with little focus on critical issues, such as violence, doping or other forms of deviance. More recent work has shifted from assessing the positive social roles of sport to understand sport’s role in national identities, its connection with globalization processes and in facilitating social change. A key challenge for scholars in post-socialist countries will be to recover from the economic crises of recent years so that they may re-engage with broader scholarly communities around the world and advance focus on how sport plays key roles, both positively and negatively, in national identity and development in newly independent countries.

Sport Clubs in Slovenia

Slovenia has a population of two million. With the changes of political system (1991), significant changes in commercialisation and the partnership between state and private capital occurred also in the area of financing of sport. Today, sports organisations at all levels are financed from public and private funds.