Clinical trial NCT02727920: Effects of Energy Drinks
Official title: A Test of the Effects of Energy Drinks
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Energy Drinks
Lead sponsor: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2016-04-05
Enrollment: 228
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 70
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: This study is designed to test the efficacy of energy drinks. This is a double-blinded, crossover, randomized clinical trial, measuring the effect of the test drinks compared with placebo drink in 200 participants aged 18-70 years.

Detailed description: This study is designed to test the efficacy of an energy drink compared to placebo via a double-blind, crossover, randomized clinical trial. Energy levels will be assessed before and after consumption of the test beverages on 2 days separated by a week in 200 participants aged 18-70 years. The study is crossover because the participants will be (randomly) receiving one drink on Test Day 1 and the other drink on Test Day 2.

After signing written informed consent, participants will be fed a light lunch, and their pulse, weight and height measured. A baseline battery of computer-based tests to assess energy levels will be conducted. These computer-based measures will take \~40 minutes to complete and will include: a) a long-term memory test b) a Profile of Mood States (POMS2) brief form; c) Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP) test, d) The N-Back Task; d) Reaction time online test; f) the Flanker Task. Participants will then be asked to fill out a baseline survey (30 min), with questions about current health-related behaviors, specifically questions about physical activity and diet.

Upon completing the baseline battery (survey administered at test session 1 only), participants will be randomly administered the energy drink or the placebo to consume while observed. Subsequently, the battery of computer-based tests to assess energy levels will be re-administered 30 minutes, 2.5 hours and 5 hours after consumption of the test drink.

The study intervention will be double-blinded: participants will be blinded to whether they are receiving the active or the placebo drink, and study team members will also not be aware of the assignment.

When the study ends, full compensation will be given if the intervention is fully completed; if the intervention is not fully completed, partial compensation will be given.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Fluent in reading English
* High school graduate as lowest education level

Exclusion Criteria:

* Non-smoker
* No diagnosed/treated cognitive/psychiatric conditions by self-report
* No diagnosed/treated diabetes, hypoglycemia or thyroid condition by self-report
* No current use of prescription stimulant medications by self-report
* No allergies or sensitivities to foods, ingredients or chemicals by self-report, that are contained in the test drink or placebo
* No diagnosed phenylketonuria

Primary outcomes:
measure: attention-memory score
timeFrame: 5 hours
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Baltimore
country: United States
facility: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
state: Maryland
Study officials:
affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
name: Lawrence J Cheskin, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Burrows T, Pursey K, Neve M, Stanwell P. What are the health implications associated with the consumption of energy drinks? A systematic review. Nutr Rev. 2013 Mar;71(3):135-48. doi: 10.1111/nure.12005. Epub 2013 Jan 29.
citation: Goldfarb M, Tellier C, Thanassoulis G. Review of published cases of adverse cardiovascular events after ingestion of energy drinks. Am J Cardiol. 2014 Jan 1;113(1):168-72. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2013.08.058. Epub 2013 Oct 4.
citation: Ali F, Rehman H, Babayan Z, Stapleton D, Joshi DD. Energy drinks and their adverse health effects: A systematic review of the current evidence. Postgrad Med. 2015 Apr;127(3):308-22. doi: 10.1080/00325481.2015.1001712. Epub 2015 Jan 6.
citation: Rath M. Energy drinks: what is all the hype? The dangers of energy drink consumption. J Am Acad Nurse Pract. 2012 Feb;24(2):70-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2011.00689.x. Epub 2012 Jan 31.
citation: Kurtz AM, Leong J, Anand M, Dargush AE, Shah SA. Effects of caffeinated versus decaffeinated energy shots on blood pressure and heart rate in healthy young volunteers. Pharmacotherapy. 2013 Aug;33(8):779-86. doi: 10.1002/phar.1296. Epub 2013 May 30.
citation: Phan JK, Shah SA. Effect of caffeinated versus noncaffeinated energy drinks on central blood pressures. Pharmacotherapy. 2014 Jun;34(6):555-60. doi: 10.1002/phar.1419. Epub 2014 Mar 19.
citation: Shah SA, Nguyen NN, Bhattacharyya M. Energy Implications of Consuming Caffeinated Versus Decaffeinated Energy Drinks. J Pharm Pract. 2015 Oct;28(5):482-3. doi: 10.1177/0897190015585738. No abstract available.
citation: Garcia-Alvarez A, Cunningham CA, Mui B, Penn L, Spaulding EM, Oakes JM, Divers J, Dickinson SL, Xu X, Cheskin LJ. A randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial of a decaffeinated energy drink shows no significant acute effect on mental energy. Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 Mar 1;111(3):719-727. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz343.