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dc.contributor.authorCatalani, Valeria
dc.contributor.authorNegri, Attilio
dc.contributor.authorTownshend, Honor
dc.contributor.authorSimonato, Pierluigi
dc.contributor.authorPrilutskaya, Mariya
dc.contributor.authorTippett, Anna
dc.contributor.authorCorazza, Ornella
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-26T12:30:02Z
dc.date.available2021-07-26T12:30:02Z
dc.date.issued2021-06-13
dc.identifier.citationCatalani , V , Negri , A , Townshend , H , Simonato , P , Prilutskaya , M , Tippett , A & Corazza , O 2021 , ' The market of sport supplement in the digital era: A netnographic analysis of perceived risks, side-effects and other safety issues ' , Emerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions and Health , vol. 1 , 100014 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etdah.2021.100014
dc.identifier.issn2667-1182
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-7371-319X/work/98163926
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2299/24914
dc.description© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for the Study of Emerging Drugs. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )
dc.description.abstractBackground: The market of sport supplements is expanding worldwide. Such phenomenon is often supported by captivating marketing strategies and social media advertising providing unscientifically founded claims, thus raising safety concerns. The aim of our study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the online market, patterns of use, perceived risks and other safety issues on supplement use as reported in online fitness communities. Methods: A mixed method approach was employed. An automatized web-based monitoring tool (Brand24®) was used to track the most popular supplements and related discussions according to the number of interactions between users and shares; the number and category of websites; the social media reach; and the most popular hashtags. Results were assessed through a netnographic qualitative analysis of online fitness fora, to identify motivations of intake, self-reported side effects andthe overall safety perception reliability of supplements information online. Results: A social media reach of over four million individuals, inclusive of 18595 posts, emerged from our search. The most cited supplements were “Whey Protein”, “Branched Chain Amino-Acid”, “Creatine”, “Multivitamin supplements” and “Nitric Oxide boosters”. Supplements were mainly taken for muscle gain (23%), increase energy (17%), and weight loss (8%). Although the web narrative on supplementation was overall positive, a wide range of side effects were reported by 19% of fitness fora users. These included acne (9%), water retention (9%), stomach pain (9%), rashes (7%), erectile dysfunctions (7%) and weight gain (5%). Concerns about contamination (47%), counterfeit content (17%) and the presence of hidden ingredients (11%) were also recorded. Conclusions: In a poorly regulated context, where unsolicited social media posts have replaced the typical advice provided by professionals, efforts should be made to ensure the reliability of the provided information to avoid the insurgence of unwanted adverse effects and safeguard public health.en
dc.format.extent8
dc.format.extent656536
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofEmerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions and Health
dc.titleThe market of sport supplement in the digital era: A netnographic analysis of perceived risks, side-effects and other safety issuesen
dc.contributor.institutionSchool of Life and Medical Sciences
dc.contributor.institutionHertfordshire Law School
dc.contributor.institutionCentre for Future Societies Research
dc.contributor.institutionDepartment of Clinical, Pharmaceutical and Biological Science
dc.contributor.institutionCentre for Health Services and Clinical Research
dc.contributor.institutionPsychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Unit
dc.description.statusPeer reviewed
rioxxterms.versionofrecord10.1016/j.etdah.2021.100014
rioxxterms.typeJournal Article/Review
herts.preservation.rarelyaccessedtrue


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