Spike in related ED visits highlights ‘growing concern’ over caffeine intake among youth

Key takeaways:

• Caffeine-related ED visits more than doubled in children aged 11 to 14 years from 2017 to 2023.
• Males had significantly higher rates of caffeine-related ED visits compared with females aged 15 to 35 years.

Caffeine-related ED visits among youth have risen substantially over the last several years, especially in boys, new data from Epic Research showed.

“What stands out is the doubling of these rates over a relatively short period, particularly among middle and high school-aged children,” Kersten Bartelt, RN, a research clinician with Epic Research, told Healio. “This trend underscores the growing concern about caffeine consumption in this age group.”

Nearly one-third of youth aged 12 to 17 years consume energy drinks regularly, according to the NIH.

Bartelt and colleagues explained that caffeine overdoses, “or ingesting too much caffeine in a short period of time,” are rare but can result in several adverse events like heart attacks, severe arrhythmias and death.

According to the FDA, toxic effects from caffeine can be seen with quick consumption of around 1,200 mg of caffeine or less than one half a teaspoon of pure caffeine.

In the study, the researchers analyzed 223 million ED visits across patients aged 11 to 35 years that occurred between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2023, to assesses caffeine-related ED trends.

They found that the rate of caffeine-related ED visits more than doubled in youth aged 11 to 14 years, increasing from 3.1 per 100,000 visits in 2017 to 6.5 per 100,000 visits in 2023.

The rates similarly rose among adolescents aged 15 to 18 years, rising from 7.4 to 13.6 per 100,000 visits from 2017 to 2023.

Those aged 19 to 24 years and 25 to 35 years had slight increases in the overall rates over the study period.

Bartelt and colleagues pointed out that boys and men were particularly vulnerable to caffeine-related ED visits, having higher rates — occasionally triple the rate — compared with girls and women across all age groups except in those aged 11 to 14 years.

This finding is consistent with prior research suggesting that males have an increased response to caffeine vs. females, “which might result in more adverse reactions” the researchers wrote.

Primary care physicians “should discuss caffeine consumption during routine visits, especially in adolescents,” Bartelt told Healio.

“Educating both parents and teens about the potential risks of excessive caffeine intake, including heart palpitations, anxiety, and increased BP, may be impactful,” she said.

Regarding future research, “it could be beneficial to explore the effectiveness of educational interventions and policy changes aimed at reducing caffeine intake in young people,” Bartelt added. “Additionally, studying the long-term health impacts of high caffeine consumption during adolescence could provide valuable insights.”

References:

Caffeine-related ED visits, although uncommon, doubled for middle school and high school aged children since 2017. Available at: https://www.epicresearch.org/articles/caffeine-related-ed-visits-although-uncommon-doubled-for-middle-school-and-high-school-aged-children-since-2017. Published Nov. 5, 2024. Accessed Nov. 15, 2024.
Energy drinks. Available at: https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/energy-drinks. Accessed Nov. 15, 2024.
Spilling the beans: How much caffeine is too much?. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much. Accessed Nov. 15, 2024.