Benefits and side effects of energy drink consumption among university students / Siti Khuzaimah Ahmad Sharoni ... [et al.]

Recently, energy drinks are becoming a popular beverage among youths, especially students in tertiary education. It claims to provide many benefits for students such as increased energy and wakefulness. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence, types, benefits, and side effects of energy drink consumption among university students. This cross-sectional study was carried out in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Puncak Alam Campus, Selangor from April 2019 to July 2020. Students who participated using convenience sampling (n=376) were asked to complete a set of self-administered questionnaires. Data were analysed using IBM-SPSS Statistics (Version 25) to determine the prevalence of energy drinks consumption. A Chi-square test was also used to determine the association between energy drink
consumption and gender. Out of 380 respondents, 217 (57.1%) students consumed energy drinks of which 93 (42.9%) were males and 124 (57.1%) were females. For the types of energy drinks, male students significantly consumed more Red Bull and Gatorade compared to females at 68 (53.1%) and 39 (53.4%) respectively (p<0.05). Also, male students reported that energy drinks were effective in improving physical performance (n = 55,
51.4%), increased stamina in exercise or sports (n = 47, 52.8%), increased reaction rate (n = 30, 56.6%) and improved driving (24, 66.7%) (p<0.05). In contrast, females (n = 80, 52.3%) perceived that the drinks were able to improve energy (p<0.05). However, no statistically significant association was found between males and females for the side effects of energy drink consumption (p>0.05). In conclusion, a majority of university students in Selangor consumed energy drinks. Most male students
also believed that it is beneficial with few side effects.