Study involved 24 squads from the three sports of rugby, soccer and Gaelic games - 12 at schoolboy level and 12 at adult level - and broken into four squads from each sport.

The total participation figure was 460. Of that, 98 people had never heard of the substance creatine.

The overall use either present or past across all sports was 28 per cent, although use was significantly higher at adult level than schoolboy level. Almost half of the adults surveyed were present or past users, while it was just over 12 per cent of the schoolboy figure.

At adult level, 62 per cent of rugby players, 42 per cent of Gaelic games players, and 35 per cent of soccer players use or had used creatine.

At schoolboy level, 14 per cent of rugby players, 12 per cent of Gaelic games players, and 12 per cent of soccer players use or had used creatine.

Almost 75 per cent of those creatine users had stopped using it, with the three main reasons being lack of benefit, expense and side effects.