Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
Addiction. 2011 Feb;106(2):335-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03219.x. Epub 2010 Dec 6.
Marketing that promotes mixing caffeinated 'energy' drinks with alcoholic beverages (e.g. Red Bull with vodka) targets young drinkers and conveys the expectation that caffeine will offset the sedating effects of alcohol and enhance alertness. Such beliefs could result in unwarranted risk taking (e.g. driving while intoxicated). The aim of this study was to assess the acute effects of caffeinated versus non-caffeinated alcoholic beverages on a simulated driving task and attention/reaction time.
We conducted a 2 × 2 between-groups randomized trial in which participants were randomized to one of four conditions: beer and non-alcoholic beer, with and without caffeine added. Caffeine was added in the same proportion as found in a commercially available caffeinated beer (69 mg/12 oz of beer at 4.8% alc. by vol).
Participants were 127 non-dependent, heavy episodic, young adult drinkers (age 21-30) who were college students or recent graduates. The target breath alcohol level was 0.12 g%.
Driving performance was assessed with a driving simulator; sustained attention/reaction with the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT).
Across the driving and attention/reaction time we found main effects for alcohol, with alcohol significantly impairing driving and sustained attention/reaction time, with mainly large statistical effects; however, the addition of caffeine had no main or interaction effects on performance.
The addition of caffeine to alcohol does not appear to enhance driving or sustained attention/reaction time performance relative to alcohol alone.
宣传将含咖啡因的“能量”饮料与酒精饮料混合（例如红牛与伏特加混合）的营销活动针对的是年轻饮酒者，并传达了咖啡因可以抵消酒精的镇静作用并提高警觉性的期望。这种信念可能导致不必要的冒险行为（例如醉酒驾车）。本研究的目的是评估含咖啡因与不含咖啡因的酒精饮料对模拟驾驶任务和注意力/反应时间的急性影响。
我们进行了一项 2×2 组间随机试验，参与者被随机分配到以下四种条件之一：啤酒和无酒精啤酒，以及添加和不添加咖啡因。咖啡因的添加量与市售含咖啡因啤酒中的咖啡因含量相同（每 12 盎司啤酒中含有 69 毫克咖啡因，酒精含量为 4.8%）。
参与者为 127 名非依赖性、重度间歇性、年轻成年饮酒者（年龄 21-30 岁），他们是大学生或最近的毕业生。目标呼气酒精水平为 0.12 g%。
驾驶表现通过驾驶模拟器评估；注意力/反应时间通过精神运动警觉任务（PVT）评估。
在驾驶和注意力/反应时间方面，我们发现酒精有主要影响，酒精显著损害了驾驶和注意力/反应时间，主要是统计学上的大影响；然而，添加咖啡因对表现没有主要或交互作用。
与单独饮酒相比，向酒精中添加咖啡因似乎不会提高驾驶或注意力/反应时间表现。
