RESEARCH ARTICLE


Association between Awareness on the Neurophysiologic Effects of Caffeine and Consumption of Caffeinated Beverages among Saudi University Students



Hassan Alshakhs1, Eduardo Fabella1, *, Yasser Al Hassan2, Muntathir Alsultan1, Mohammed Alshuwyash1
1 Department Public Health, King Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
2 Department of Health Programs, Public Health Directorate, Al Ahsa General Health Affairs, Ministry of Health, Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia


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Creative Commons License
© 2022 Alshakhs et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department Public Health, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia; Tel: 0534918736; E-mail: efabella@kfu.edu.sa


Abstract

Background:

Caffeine is known to have numerous neurophysiologic effects. This study aimed to determine the association between university students’ awareness on the neurophysiologic effects of caffeine and their coffee consumption.

Methods:

An analytic cross-sectional study design was utilized. A 45-item questionnaire was distributed to 523 randomly selected students at the College of Applied Medical Sciences at King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. Collected data was subjected to estimation of proportion and logistic regression analyses using EpiInfo version 7.

Results:

Coffee consumption was prevalent among the university students (58.62%, 95% CI: 54.22% - 62.89%). Majority of university students were unaware about the potential effects of caffeine to reduce suicide risk and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Increased coffee consumption was associated with awareness that caffeinated beverage consumption could lead to a decrease in suicide risk (OR = 1.6286, p = 0.0506) and awareness that caffeinated beverage consumption could help increase alertness (OR = 2.4462, p = 0.0458).

Conclusion:

Caffeinated-beverage consumption is prevalent among Saudi university students. Awareness on potential increased alertness effects of caffeine consumption were significantly associated with caffeinated beverages consumption.

Keywords: Caffeine, Neurophysiologic effects, University students, Caffeinated beverages, Alzheimer’s disease, Coffee.