Caffeine ingestion by students at the Brazil faculty of medicine: a prospective observational cross-sectional study

Introduction: In higher education, the consumption of stimulant substances such as coffee is increasing intensely due to the high demand of concentration and disposition of individuals. This occurs mainly among medical students. Objective: It was to quantify and analyze caffeine intake and its effects on medical students at the Faculty of Medicine of Catanduva, Centro Universitário Padre Albino (UNIFIPA). Methods: This study followed a prospective observational cross-sectional model, following the rules of clinical research of the STROBE. Data collection took place from June 2019, through an objective questionnaire and self-application, which was answered by students from the first to the sixth year of FAMECA who were interested in answering and contributing to the research, which had as objective to quantify and analyze the use of caffeine, in addition to its motivations and side effects on the physiology of these students. This study was analyzed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee according to a substantiated opinion number 5,347,594, and obtaining the Informed Consent Form. For data analysis, a common descriptive analysis was performed, obtaining the values of total N, and statistical percentage (%) for all predictors. The One-Way test (ANOVA) was applied, adopting the α level lower than 0.05, with a statistically significant difference for the 95% CI. Results and Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that a very large number of university students ingest caffeine. Most of the students started consumption in the pre-college course and in college, with the aim of compensating for sleep, because they like the taste of energy drinks and improve academic performance, due to the intense routine due to the high workload requires greater attention, in order to to meet the demand for studies. Most students consume moderately caffeine, which is not harmful to health. However, a minority ingest excessive amounts of substances that contain caffeine and side effects are noted. Among these, the ones that stood out were stomach problems, anxiety and tachycardia. Thus, even representing the minority, it is of fundamental importance to carry out more studies on this topic. With this, it will be possible to provide more information to the population so that it is able to assess the impacts of the use of stimulants in clinical practice, in order to minimize possible adverse effects. Finally, the population will be able to use caffeine properly, according to the recommended dose, avoiding major health problems.