4 th year MBBS Students: Knowledge and Practice for Energy Drinks Consumption and their Side Effects

Abstract

Background: Energy Drinks (E.Ds) are famous for being instant source of energy and symbolize fashion. EDs are used for a number of reasons depending on school of thought and desired effect. It is very important that medical students should know about ED’s side effects and their attitude towards EDs. Aim: To assess the knowledge and practice of fourth year medical students about Energy Drinks consumption and its side effects. Study Design: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 4thyear MBBS students of Lahore Medical & Dental College (LMDC) in January, 2018. Methodology: Medical students of fourth year MBBS were invited to participate in the study after obtaining voluntary informed consent from the respondents. A structured questionnaire was used as the study tool to obtain sociodemographic back ground of students as well as their knowledge and practices regarding Energy Drinks consumption and their potential side effects. Data was entered, cleaned and analyzed in SPSS 20. Data was presented in the form of tables and graph and was analyzed through descriptive statistics. Results: Study participants (n=104) included 42.3% males and 57.7% females.100% of the students knew what an ED is, but the sources of information were found to be varied. Majority of participants knew that Caffeine (79.8%), Taurine (34.6%) and Sugar (54.8%) are basic ingredients of ED. 58% respondents were of the opinion that generally ED are used to stay awake.34.6% of participants believed that EDs can cause fatigue, dehydration 26%, increase heart rate 45.2%, Insomnia 40.4%, 78.8% of respondents have never used EDs Conclusion: A considerable majority of the medical student consume energy drinks mainly inspired by friends, for the purpose of studying and staying awake. They have only the basic knowledge about its composition and side effects mainly acquired through internet and television.