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Document Type

Original Article

Abstract

To determine the rate of the caffeine consumption among students and to assess side effects and benefits of the caffeine among medical and non-medical students. METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study was included medical and non-medical students of various institutes of Lahore. The study duration was three months from May 2014 to July 2014. A predesigned structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the students, Consent was obtained on the form beforehand. RESULTS: Astonishingly 98.6%(74) of medical and 97.4%(73) of the Non-Medical students said that they consume caffeine in one form or another, the most popular caffeinated product turned out to be soft drinks (39%/126 responses) followed by Tea (26.5%/86 responses), coffee (20.6%/67responces) and Energy drinks (11.2%/36 Responses), other caffeinated tablets and gums etc. were consumed by 4.8% of the cases. Almost 25.7%(73 responses) of the students said that they consumed caffeine while studying for exams and 20%(58 Responses) consume it when they have a headache, 19%(54 responses) when they are out with friends, 9.5%(27) when driving for long distances,9.9%(28) while at work,18.5%(25) consumed it when they didn't get enough sleep,60%(90) of the student select a specific caffeine product because of its taste, 8.7%(13) on the basis of affordability and price, 6.7%(10) on the basis of amount of caffeine, and 5.3%(8) on the basis of quality, 11%(17) had no special preference. Almost 44.7%(67) students consumed 0-1 caffeine product per day, 44%(66) consumed 2-3products per day, 7.3%(11) consumed 3-5 products per day and 2%(3) consumed 5 or more.62%(93) of students said that their caffeine consumption has increased since they entered the college or university due to increased study load as the main reason (45.3%) also peer pressure was a significant cause (11.3%). As far as knowledge was concerned, 46%(35) of medical students were categorized as having high knowledge of caffeine. Whereas 25%(19) of non-medical students were categorized as having high knowledge about caffeine. CONCLUSION: Most Students consume more caffeine during exams and other periods of strenuous activities and most of them do not think that caffeine can be addicting. The Percentage of medical and non-medical students consuming caffeine is 98.6 and 97.3 percent respectively. Most popular product is soft drinks and cause of increase consumption is increased academic burden. KEY WORDS: Caffeine, CNS Stimulants, Methyl xanthine, Medical students, Peer Pressure, Soft Drinks

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