This study explored herbal medicine prescription practices for athletes and doping awareness among Korean Medicine Doctors (KMDs) in South Korea. An online survey of 480 KMDs revealed that 77.9% had prescribed herbal medicine to athletes, mainly for enhancing physical strength (92.8%), fatigue recovery (87.4%), and injury recovery (78.9%). Prescriptions for tension relief (43.3%) and weight management (25.4%) were less common. While 97.3% recognized the potential doping risk of herbal medicine, only 29.4% had received anti-doping education, and 47.7% were concerned their prescriptions could cause positive doping results. The findings highlight the need for anti-doping guidelines and education for KMDs to ensure safe herbal use in sports. This study provides valuable empirical data on the intersection of herbal medicine and doping, calling for further scientific validation and strategy development for safe use in athletes.
ArnasonA.SigurdssonS. B.GudmundssonA.HolmeI.EngebretsenL.BahrR. (2004). Physical fitness, injuries, and team performance in soccer. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36(2), 278–285. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.MSS.0000113478.92945
2.
BackhouseS. H.McKennaJ. (2011). Doping in sport: A review of medical practitioners’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. International Journal of Drug Policy, 22(3), 198–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2011.03.002
3.
BackhouseS. H.WhitakerL.PetrócziA. (2013). Gateway to doping? Supplement use in the context of preferred competitive situations, doping attitude, beliefs, and norms. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 23(2), 244–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2011.01374.x
4.
BahrR.KrosshaugT. (2005). Understanding injury mechanisms: A key component of preventing injuries in sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 39(6), 324–329. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2005.018341
5.
CamilliG.ShepardL. A. (1994) Methods for identifying biased test items (vol. 4). Sage.
HwangM. K.KwonS. G.LeeC. W.UmS. H.LeeS. J. (2024). Effect of bojungikgitang consumption on functional fitness and fatigue in U-19 soccer players. Journal of Golf Studies, 18(special), 283–295. https://doi.org/10.34283/ksgs.2024.18.special.23
8.
JeongH. I.HanJ. E.ShinB. C.JangS. B.WonJ. H.KimK. H.SungS. H. (2022). Monitoring of heavy metals and pesticide residues of herbal decoctions in traditional Korean medicine clinics in Korea. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(14), 8523. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148523
9.
KimI. S.ParkS. J. (2017). Doping violation of sports players and improvement of anti-doping education. Korean Society of Sport Policy, 15(2), 179–190. https://www.riss.kr/link?id=A103599287
10.
KimJ.ChunY. S.KangS. K.ChoH. C. (2010). The use of herbal/traditional products supplementation and doping tests in elite athletes. International Journal of Applied Sports Sciences, 22(2), 137–149. https://doi.org/10.24985/ijass.2010.22.2.137
11.
KimJ.KangS. K.JungH. S.ChunY. S.TrilkJ.JungS. H. (2011). Dietary supplementation patterns of Korean olympic athletes participating in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 21(2), 166–174. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.21.2.166
12.
KimJ. R.YunS. J.LeeY. K.LeeH. J.KimJ. S. (2019). A review on safety of herbal medicines for doping. Journal of Korean Medicine, 40(3), 139–176. https://doi.org/10.13048/jkm.19032
13.
KimS.KoC. (2022). Effect of weight loss and improvement of liver function through Korean medicinal treatment: Case report. Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research, 22(2), 167–172. https://doi.org/10.15429/jkomor.2022.22.2.167
14.
LeeJ. S.YoonY. S. (2010). Studies on bacterial and fungal contamination in the herbal medicines. Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial Cooperation Society,11(12), 4826-4832. https://doi.org/10.5762/kais.2010.11.12.4826
15.
LeeT. H.JungC. K.LeeW. S.LeeM. G. (2017). Investigation of perception of coaches and oriental medical Doctors on oriental medicine and doping of elite athlete. The Korean Journal of Physical Education, 56(2), 565–575. https://doi.org/10.23949/kjpe.2017.03.56.2.41
ParkJ. H.YoonS. H.YoonJ. W.LeeS. Y.LeeH. G.LeeJ. Y. (2022). Developement of doping drug recognition system: Application of deep learning-based OCR technology. The Korean Journal of Physical Education, 61(6), 83–92. https://doi.org/10.23949/kjpe.2022.11.61.6.7
20.
ProckbC. J. P. (2012). Supplements and inadvertent doping–how big is the risk to athletes? The Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine: An IOC Medical Commission Publication, Sports Nutrition, edited by R. J. Maughan and published by Wiley-Blackwell. Acute Topics in Sport Nutrition, 59, 143–152.
21.
SharmaB. (2021). A critical analysis of the impact of doping in sports domain. The International Journal of Law Management & Humanities, 4(2), 129. https://doi.org/10.1732/IJLMH.26038
22.
UNESCO. (2005). International convention against doping in sport.
23.
WoolwayT.LazurasL.BarkoukisV.PetrócziA. (2020). “Doing what is right and doing it right”: A mapping review of athletes' perception of anti-doping legitimacy. The International Journal on Drug Policy, 84, Article 102865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102865
