Yoo Jin Kim, Eun Min Jeon, Sung Bo Shim, Hwa Jeong Seo

Medical Informatics and health Technology (MIT), Department of Health Care Services, College of Social Science, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea


Background: We examined the consumption patterns and the knowledge and awareness of energy drinks to draw up a guideline for energy drink consumption and to give accurate information to college student.
Methods: Data from 324 subjects (186 males and 138 females) were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The study participants were recruited from the Gyeonggi-do, Seongnam area between March and June 2013.
Results: The results showed that there was a significant gender-based difference in awareness of energy drinks- 56.5% (78/139) of the males and 78.9% (71/90) of the females had negative awareness (P<.001). As for recognizability of taurine by awareness of energy drinks, there were intergroup differences: the mean was 3.89 for the group with positive awareness and 3.31 for the negative awareness group (P=.001). The odds ratio for awareness of energy drinks was 2.75 (95% CI:1.05-7.18) and those with positive awareness consumed more than those with negative awareness (P=.039).
Conclusions: This investigation on the factors that affect energy drinks consumption behaviors is of significance in that it helps make known the high caffeine content of energy drinks, and accurate knowledge of the side effects and appropriate consumption.
Korean J Health Promot 2015;15(1):31-38

Keywords: Energy drinks, Caffeine, Economics, Awareness, Students