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The objective of this study was to investigate sports medicine physicians\u2019 perceptions of GLP-1 drug use in sport.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Following an observational cross-sectional approach, 114 sports medicine physicians completed a survey addressing experiences and perceptions of GLP-1 use in competitive sport. Participants had worked in sports medicine for 16.6\u00a0years on average, 63% were male, and 38 countries and 93 sports were represented. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Twelve percent of physicians were aware of athletes who had used GLP-1 drugs without medical need. Physicians most frequently reported that athletes would consider using GLP-1 drugs to meet weight limits and assist weight loss after injury and would be deterred by a lack of energy to train from a reduced appetite. On average, physicians were moderately concerned about the non-prescription use of GLP-1 drugs in sport from a performance enhancement perspective and from an athlete health and welfare perspective. Forty-four percent of participants believed GLP-1 drugs should be prohibited, although 38% reported being unsure. For those supporting prohibition, harm to an athlete\u2019s health was the main concern.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Currently, without evidence on the effects of GLP-1 drugs on athletes\u2019 health and performance, a proportionate response for sport is education first, structured therapeutic-use pathways, enhanced monitoring, and accelerated sport-specific research including longer-term clinical follow-up of side effects. The approach protects health and fairness, while creating the evidence base needed to judge whether prohibition is justified.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s40279-026-02514-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T10:14:34Z","timestamp":1787048074000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Cross-Sectional Survey of Sport Physicians\u2019 Perceptions of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Drug Use in Sport"],"prefix":"10.1007","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6007-0586","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel","family":"Read","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9287-6242","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aaron C. 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T. Smith, Margo Mountjoy, Dina Christa Janse van Rensburg, H. Paul Dijkstra and Lee Taylor have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article. Dina Christa Janse van Rensburg and Paul Dijkstra are Associate Editors for the\n                      British Journal of Sports Medicine\n                      . Margo Mountjoy is a Deputy Editor for the\n                      British Journal of Sports Medicine\n                      .","order":1,"name":"Ethics","label":"Conflicts of interest\/competing interests","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"The research received ethical approval from Loughborough University (LEON ID: 21923).","order":2,"name":"Ethics","label":"Ethics approval","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"All participants were required to voluntarily give informed consent. No personally identifiable information was collected in the survey; data were treated confidentially and all presented results are aggregated to preserve anonymity.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","label":"Consent to participate","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","label":"Consent for publication","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Because of the possibility of retrospective identification and to protect participant privacy, these data are not held in a repository. Data with demographic information removed may be made available upon suitable request.","order":5,"name":"Ethics","label":"Availability of data and material","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":6,"name":"Ethics","label":"Code availability","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"DR: conceptualisation, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing, reviewing. AS: conceptualisation, investigation, methodology, writing, reviewing. MM: methodology, investigation, reviewing. CJR: methodology, investigation, reviewing. PD: methodology, investigation, reviewing. LT: conceptualisation, methodology, investigation, writing, reviewing. All authors have read and approved the final submitted manuscript and agree to be accountable for the work.","order":7,"name":"Ethics","label":"Authors\u2019 contributions","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}}]}}