Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39915865›Full record

ArticleJournal of health, population, and nutrition2025

Factors associated with caffeine intake among undergraduates: a cross-sectional study from Palestine.

May Hamdan, Souzan Zidan, Fatima Al-Amouri, Hiba Niroukh, Manar Abu Dawod, Sajeda Ashour, Shahd Sameer Dweik, Manal Badrasawi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of health, population, and nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

May HamdanFaculty of Medicine, Department of Health Professions, Program of Healthy and Therapeutic Nutrition, Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, Palestine.
Souzan ZidanDepartment of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Hebron University, Hebron, West Bank, Palestine.
Fatima Al-AmouriDepartment of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, An-Najah National University, Nablus, West Bank, Palestine.
Hiba NiroukhFaculty of Medicine, Department of Health Professions, Program of Healthy and Therapeutic Nutrition, Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, Palestine.
Manar Abu DawodFaculty of Medicine, Department of Health Professions, Program of Healthy and Therapeutic Nutrition, Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, Palestine.
Sajeda AshourFaculty of Medicine, Department of Health Professions, Program of Healthy and Therapeutic Nutrition, Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, Palestine.
Shahd Sameer DweikFaculty of Medicine, Department of Health Professions, Program of Healthy and Therapeutic Nutrition, Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, Palestine.
Manal BadrasawiDepartment of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, An-Najah National University, Nablus, West Bank, Palestine. m.badrasawi@najah.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCaffeine is one of the world's most frequently consumed central nervous system stimulants. Moderate caffeine intake has beneficial health effects, while increased caffeine intake may have harmful effects in the human body. Existing literature indicated that undergraduates consume caffeine excessively. Till this date, little is known about the consumption pattern of caffeine among Palestinian undergraduates. Therefore, the current study aimed to estimate the percentage of caffeine consumption among Palestinian undergraduates, to assess their caffeine daily intake, and to identify factors associated with unsafe caffeine consumption.

methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Palestine between March and May 2022. Undergraduates were recruited by random sampling after a personal invitation. Undergraduates aged between 18 and 25 were included in the study, while those who were taking medications, had medical conditions affecting the data collection process, and had incomplete responses were excluded from the study. Caffeine consumption was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed by the research team. The content validity of the FFQ was done by three reviewers. Also, a questionnaire was used to collect data related to sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, lifestyle habits, sleeping quality, physical activity, and psychological status. Data were analyzed through the descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney test, and Kruskal-Wallis H test).

resultsThe final analysis included 486 undergraduates with a mean age of 20.1 ± 1.48 years. The majority of the undergraduates were female (65.0%) and single (89.5%). The sample was distributed almost equally between the first (26.3%), second (23.0%), third (22.8%), and fourth (18.7%) academic years, and only 44 undergraduates (9.1%) were in their fifth year. The vast majority of university students (96.5%) consumed caffeinated products, with coffee ranking first place. Nearly half of the participants (32.7%) exceeded the safe levels of caffeine consumption. Males, smokers, poor physical activity, higher Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) scores, and greater anxiety, stress, and depression scores had significantly higher rates of unsafe caffeine intake than their peers (p < 0.05). The total caffeine consumption was significantly associated with gender, low household income, smoking status, physical activity level, SHI score, as well as anxiety (p < 0.05).

conclusionCaffeine consumption in the studied sample was significantly high and exceeded the safe levels. The current study revealed that unsafe caffeine consumption was more common among males, smokers, and physically active individuals. Caffeine intake was also linked to poor-quality sleep and higher psychological concerns. Therefore, educational programs are recommended to increase awareness of the adverse effects of high caffeine intake.

Indexed as

ArabsCaffeineStudentsAdolescentAdultCentral Nervous System StimulantsCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLife StyleMaleMiddle EastSurveys and QuestionnairesUniversitiesYoung AdultCaffeineCentral Nervous System StimulantsAssociationCaffeine consumptionCross sectional studyPsychological statusUniversity students

Identifiers

PMID39915865
PMCPMC11803939

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.