Creatine is a nutritional supplement that is commonly, if controversially, used as an ergogenic aid in sport. The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence, use and knowledge of this substance among a sample of elite Gaelic football, rugby, and soccer players in Ireland. 460 male athletes completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire that examined their use and knowledge of creatine. Overall, 18.9% of the sample (n = 87) had not heard of creatine, 56.7% (n = 261) reported that they had heard of it but had never used it, a further 16.3% (n = 75) had used creatine in the past but were no longer doing so and 5.2% (n = 24) were currently using it. Further analysis showed some differences in patterns of use among those who had heard of creatine.

In general, although there were more users at adult level than at school level, there was no difference in percentage of users across sport types. However, when school and adult players were examined separately, there were significantly more users in rugby at the adult level. The data indicate a higher awareness of this substance among adult rugby players than among players of other sports tested in the sample.