Abstract 12154: Relationship Between Caffeine Consumption and Young Athletes' Comorbidities, Exercise-Related Symptoms, and Baseline Electrocardiogram

Abstract

Introduction: Studies on adult athletes have found that caffeine consumption has both positive and negative effects on physical performance and cardiovascular physiology. While roughly 3 in 4 children older than 5 years old consume caffeinated beverages, the effects of caffeine on children and adolescent athletes are less studied. Methods: The HeartBytes National Youth Database produced by Simon’s Heart, a nonprofit organization that organizes pre-participation examinations (PPEs) of adolescents, was utilized for this study. This database contains demographic, exercise-related symptom (chest pain or dyspnea), and electrocardiogram data obtained during Simon’s Heart PPEs. Logistic regression models were adjusted for age, BMI, race, and gender except for the model assessing BMI as an outcome, which adjusted only for age, race, and gender. Results: Of the 7425 patients in the HeartBytes database, the majority were male (60.6%) and White (83.9%). The median age was 15.0 years old (interquartile range 13.5 - 16.5). Those who consumed caffeine were more likely to have a history of ADHD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.43 [CI: 1.15 - 1.76]; p = 0.001) and a BMI ≥ 30 (aOR 1.69 [CI: 1.27 - 2.25]; p < 0.001) when compared to non-caffeine drinkers. Caffeine drinkers overall were at no higher risk for exercise-related symptoms. However, when type of beverage was assessed, soda drinkers were more likely to have symptoms during exercise (aOR 1.33 [CI: 1.02 - 1.73]; p = 0.032) and coffee drinkers were more likely to have syncope with exercise (aOR 2.13 [CI: 1.20 - 3.60]; p = 0.006) compared to those who do not consume caffeinated beverages. No association was present between caffeine consumption or beverage type and ECG changes. Conclusions: In this dataset from a national registry of PPEs, caffeine consumption was independently associated with obesity and ADHD. While caffeine consumption itself did not increase risk of exercise-related symptoms, soda drinkers were at higher risk for symptoms during exercise, and coffee drinkers were at higher risk of syncope with exercise. The study shows that caffeine consumption may have significant impact on youth health. Future studies are needed to further confirm our findings.