title: Mixing alcohol with energy drink (AMED) and total alcohol consumption: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: It has been suggested that consuming alcohol mixed with energy drink (AMED) may increase total alcohol consumption. Aims of this systematic review and meta-analysis were (i) to compare alcohol consumption of AMED consumers with alcohol only (AO) consumers (between-group comparisons), and (ii) to examine if alcohol consumption of AMED consumers differs on AMED and AO occasions (within-subject comparisons). A literature search identified fourteen studies. Meta-analyses of between-group comparisons of N = 5212 AMED consumers and N = 12,568 AO consumers revealed that on a typical single drinking episode AMED consumers drink significantly more alcohol than AO consumers (p = 0.0001, ES = 0.536, 95%CI: 0.349 to 0.724). Meta-analyses of within-subject comparisons among N = 2871 AMED consumers revealed no significant difference in overall alcohol consumption on a typical drinking episode between AMED and AO occasions (p = 0.465, ES = -0.052, 95%CI: -0.192 to 0.088). In conclusion, between-group comparisons suggest that heavy alcohol consumption is one of the several phenotypical differences between AMED and AO consumers. Within-subject comparisons revealed, however, that AMED consumption does not increase the total amount of alcohol consumed on a single drinking episode.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Joris C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Verster
authors.affiliation: Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Biosciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Sean J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scholey
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Biosciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alford
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages; D061215:Energy Drinks; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: AMED; alcohol; alcohol consumption; energy drink