Introduction:

the use of dietary supplements is a widespread strategy performed by high-performance athletes worldwide. However, there is no validated questionnaire to determine the frequency and type of dietary supplements used by elite Spanish athletes.

Objective:

the purpose of this investigation was to test the validity of a questionnaire designed to assess the prevalence in the use of dietary supplements by elite Spanish athletes.

Material and methods:

initially, the questionnaire was designed to obtain information about the utilisation of five types of supplements (stimulants, ergogenic aids, supplements for weight control, supplements for improved recovery and medicines). Then, the validity of the questionnaire contents was evaluated by a group of six experts in dietary supplements who ranked the relevance and clarity of each question by using 1-10-point scales. The final version of the questionnaire was test-retested in a group of 39 elite athletes to verify the reproducibility in the answers reported in the questionnaire.

Results:

after the evaluation of the group of experts, the questionnaire was completed with 81 questions regarding sociodemographic information and data about motives and frequency and conditions of dietary supplements purchase. The test-retest of the questionnaire showed a high reliability in all the answers obtained in the test-retest.

Conclusion:

the questionnaire included in this investigation fulfilled the standards for the obtaining of valid and reproducible data regarding the prevalence in the use of dietary supplements by Spanish athletes.

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