A Survey of Energy Drink Consumption Patterns Among College Students at a Mostly Hispanic University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine energy drink (ED) consumption patterns among Hispanic college students. We measured the prevalence and frequency of ED consumption according to gender, degree programs, and specific university-related and social situations. In addition, we assessed the frequency of consumption of EDs mixed with alcoholic beverages. A total of 508 college students from the University of Puerto Rico, the largest Hispanic institution of higher education statewide, completed an online questionnaire. Twenty-one percent of participants reported consuming EDs with the majority consuming EDs either occasionally (every 2-3 months) or at least once or twice a month. Men were found to be more likely to consume EDs than women. Undergraduate students were found less likely to consume EDs than graduate students. Most students consumed EDs while studying and during social activities. More than one-third of participants that consume EDs admitted mixing them with an alcoholic beverage. Graduate students were found to consume EDs mixed with alcohol more often. The majority of students consumed EDs occasionally and while studying. Most side effects reported after consuming EDs were similar to previous findings. The higher consumption of EDs and of EDs mixed with alcohol by students in graduate programs could be explained by a higher and more complex study load requiring longer periods of wakefulness and concentration. Future studies looking at the consumption patterns of EDs in more competitive graduate programs such as medical and/or dentistry school should be considered.

Consumption of energy drinks among Turkish University students and its health hazards

“…Half of the students consumed ED at least once in their lives. This rate was similar to other studies from Turkey; 46.5% among Karadeniz Technical University students13 and 48.3% among Hacettepe University students8 or from other countries; 54.6% in Puerto Rico14 and 51.8% in Taiwan 15…”

Quantitative estimation of the caffeine content in some energy drinks on the Ghanaian market

“…Also, 20 correspondents usually took energy drinks at parties and 8 took it before work (Figure 3). Though the consumption patterns differed among correspondents, majority (61%) of them took energy drinks for enhanced performance (Figure 4) (Cabezas-Bou et al, 2016). This clearly resonated with data collected elsewhere to show that caffeine is a stimulant and a performance enhancing drug (Reissig et al, 2009).…”

Energy drink consumption among pre-clinical medical students attending a public medical school in Istanbul, Turkey

“…In our study, 32.0% of our students did not consume an energy drink. This finding was lower when compared to the finding (46.0%) of the study by Cabezas-Bou et al, among mostly Hispanic college students [11]. Increased energy drink consumption was also reported in a cohort study of college students at a public university in the USA [12].…”