Caffeine Consumption and Academic Performance among Medical Students of Dow University of Health Science (DUHS), Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of caffeine consumption and  its  effect  on  academic  perfor-  mance among medical students of DUHS, Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Dow Medical College, DUHS. About 400 medical undergraduate students from first to final  year  MBBS  were  included  through  systematic  sampling.  Those students who were on leave on  the  day  of  interview  and  addicted  to  substance  abuse  other than caffeine and those who were on drug use rehabilitation were excluded from the study. The dura-       tion of study was from January 2016 to May 2016. The data was collected by self-administered struc-   tured questionnaire which included the information regarding socio-demographic characteristics,  perceptions regarding caffeine consumption on academic performance. The data were entered and analysed by using SPSS version 16. Frequency and percentages were calculated  and  multivariate  analysis was performed to determine the association of caffeine consumption  and  academic  perfor-  mance of medical students.

Results: The mean age of the medical students were 20.83 ± 1.57 years. About 58.5% were females, 46.3% of the students scored less than 3 Grade Point Average (GPA). Majority (94%) of the students consume caffeine in any form such as tea, coffee. About 68% students reported that caffeine use in- creases their academic  performance.  On  multivariate  analyses,  caffeine  consumption  did  not  show  any significant association with academic performance.

Conclusion: High proportions of medical students were found to be consuming caffeine due to the misconception that caffeine increases academic performance. This study found  no  significant  asso-  ciation with academic performance and caffeine consumption.