ReviewNutrients2026
Beyond Ergogenic Effects: Limited Evidence on Caffeine-Related Problematic Use, Dependence, and Withdrawal in Athletic Populations-A Structured Narrative Review.
Review in Nutrients, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Caffeine is widely used in sport and exercise because of its established ergogenic effects, yet problematic use, dependence, and withdrawal in athletic populations remain poorly characterized. This structured narrative review used a systematic database search and prespecified selection process to identify studies directly addressing problematic caffeine use, dependence, use disorder, withdrawal, tolerance, habituation, or misuse in sport- and exercise-related populations. PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, and Scopus were searched from inception to 15 June 2026. Four studies met the eligibility criteria: one cross-sectional study of caffeine dependence in university sport students, two experimental withdrawal studies, and one historical analysis of caffeine use and misuse in competitive cyclists. The evidence suggests that questionnaire-assessed dependence-related features, anxiety, self-reported withdrawal symptoms, withdrawal status, habitual intake, and performance may be interconnected; however, the studies were heterogeneous and generally did not use diagnostic assessments of caffeine use disorder. Athlete-specific prevalence and risk factors therefore remain unknown. Current evidence is insufficient for firm clinical or epidemiological conclusions, but it identifies an important gap between widespread ergogenic caffeine use and limited research on loss of control, continued use despite harm, withdrawal-driven use, and functional impairment. Standardized, athlete-specific research is urgently needed.
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Registered trials
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.