Dow Medical College, Dow University Of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
Liaquat National Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan.
Arch Public Health. 2013 Dec 18;71(1):31. doi: 10.1186/2049-3258-71-31. eCollection 2013.
Energy drink is a type of beverage which contains stimulant drugs chiefly caffeine and marketed as mental and physical stimulator. Coffee, tea, soft drinks and other caffeinated beverages are not considered as energy drinks. Purpose of our study was to evaluate the awareness of medical students regarding energy drinks and their pattern and reason of energy drinks consumption.
This was a cross sectional and observational study conducted during the period of January - December 2012 at four Medical Colleges (Dow Medical College, Sindh Medical College, Jinnah Medical College and Liaquat National Medical College) of Karachi, Pakistan. Over all 900 M.B.B.S students were invited to participate after taking written consent but viable questionnaire was submitted by 866 students, estimated response rate of 96%. All data was entered and analyzed through SPSS version 19.
Out of 866 participants, majority were females 614 (70.9%) and only 252 (28.5%) were males, with a mean age of 21.43 ± 1.51 years. Energy drinks users were 350 (42.89%) and non users were 516 (59.58%). Only 102 (29.3%) users and 159 (30.7%) non users know the correct definition of Energy drinks. Regarding awareness, mostly user and non users thought that usage of energy drinks had been on rise due to its usefulness in reducing sleep hours [users193 (43.9%), nonusers 247 (56.1%) (p < 0.05)], for studying or completing major projects [users184 (45.0%), nonusers 225 (55.0%) (p < 0.05)] and for refreshment purposes [users179 (44.9%), nonusers 220 (55.1%) (p < 0.05)]. Two main reasons of not using energy drinks by non-users were "awareness from its side effects" 247 (47.8%) and "have no specific reason" 265 (51.3%). Most common side effects reported by users were fatigue 111 (31.7%) and weight gain 102 (29.4%).
In sum, the fact that despite serious side effects of weight gaining and fatigue, practice of consuming energy drinks is highly prevalent among medical students, particularly because they are ever ready to boost their energy level and reduce sleep hours due to stress of exams and projects. This warrants the creation of continued public health awareness about the appropriate use of caffeinated beverages, their potential benefits, side effects and correction of wrong perceptions.
能量饮料是一种主要含有咖啡因等兴奋剂的饮料，被宣传为提神醒脑的饮品。咖啡、茶、软饮料和其他含咖啡因的饮料不被视为能量饮料。我们研究的目的是评估医学生对能量饮料的认识以及他们饮用能量饮料的模式和原因。
这是一项横断面观察性研究，于 2012 年 1 月至 12 月在巴基斯坦卡拉奇的四所医学院（道医学院、信德医学院、真纳医学院和利亚卡特国家医学院）进行。共邀请了 900 名 M.B.B.S 学生参加，但只有 866 名学生在书面同意后参与了研究，估计的响应率为 96%。所有数据均通过 SPSS 版本 19 进行输入和分析。
在 866 名参与者中，大多数是女性 614 名（70.9%），只有 252 名（28.5%）是男性，平均年龄为 21.43±1.51 岁。能量饮料使用者为 350 名（42.89%），非使用者为 516 名（59.58%）。只有 102 名（29.3%）使用者和 159 名（30.7%）非使用者知道能量饮料的正确定义。在意识方面，大多数使用者和非使用者都认为能量饮料的使用量增加是因为它在减少睡眠时间方面有用[使用者 193 名（43.9%），非使用者 247 名（56.1%）（p<0.05）]、用于学习或完成主要项目[使用者 184 名（45.0%），非使用者 225 名（55.0%）（p<0.05）]和提神醒脑[使用者 179 名（44.9%），非使用者 220 名（55.1%）（p<0.05）]。非使用者不使用能量饮料的两个主要原因是“了解其副作用”247 名（47.8%）和“没有具体原因”265 名（51.3%）。使用者报告的最常见副作用是疲劳 111 名（31.7%）和体重增加 102 名（29.4%）。
总之，尽管能量饮料会导致体重增加和疲劳等严重副作用，但医学生饮用能量饮料的现象非常普遍，特别是因为他们为了提高能量水平和减少考试和项目带来的压力，总是准备好饮用能量饮料。这需要不断提高公众对含咖啡因饮料的正确使用、潜在益处、副作用和纠正错误认知的认识。
