The Effect of Caffeine in Elderly Citizen Following Eight Hour Abstinence From Caffeine Containing Drinks & Foods

The Effect of Caffeine as Endurance Enhancing Drug in the Elderly Following Eight Hour Abstinence From Caffeine Containing Drinks and Foods

The study investigated the effect of caffeine on physical performance in healthy citizens aged over 70 years following eight hours of abstinence from caffeine containing drinks and foods. The main hypothesis was that 6 mg/kg caffeine would improve cycling endurance at 65% of expected maximal heart rate.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy; Elderly
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Caffeine

Detailed Description

It is well documented that caffeine ingestion increases the endurance of young people exercising at 60%-85% of their maximal oxygen uptake (13;15;47). It also seems to improve endurance as measured by repeated sub-maximal isometric contraction (42), and decreases the rate of perceived exertion during exercise (6;9;46). Typically, doses of approximately 6 mg/kg caffeine were used in these studies.

With a growing number of elderly with a physical active lifestyle and many elderly participating in rehabilitation programs the endurance enhancing effect of caffeine is of increasing interest in this age group. We therefore conducted a study of healthy 75 year old citizens to investigate whether 6 mg/kg caffeine improved physical performance and reduced the perceived effort during work in healthy citizens aged ≥ 70 years. The main hypothesis was that caffeine would improve cycling endurance at 65% of expected maximal heart rate. The study showed that compared to placebo caffeine increased endurance by 25 % (p<0.0001) and isometric sub-maximal strength with 54 % (p<0.0001), reduced perceived exertion after 5 minutes of biking by 11 % (p=0.002), but in 21 of 30 participants there was reduced postural stability (with eyes open). In the above described study participants abstained from caffeine containing drinks and foods for 48 hours prior to each test. Half of the participants reported withdrawal symptoms. Such a long caffeine abstinence period would infer with daily life for many people. We therefore invited the participants from the above study to a repetition of the above study to test whether similar results would be obtained if participants only abstained from caffeine containing drinks and foods for 8 hours prior to each test.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Denmark
  • Midtjylland
    • Herning, Midtjylland, Denmark, 7400
      • Surgical Research Department

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 70 years and older (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy elderly individuals aged over 70 years (Primarily those who previously have participated in an identical study with 48 hour caffeine abstinence)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Dementia or invalidating psychiatric disease
• General debility, angina, or other diseases that would render participation in the test program impossible
• Treatment with beta receptor blocking drugs, calcium-channel blocking drugs, digitalis, or nitroglycerine
• Acute disease and injury
• Diabetes
• Conditions that would contraindicate caffeine ingestion or participation in the test program
• Treatment with medication that interacts with caffeine
• Ingestion of caffeine containing drinks and foods 8 hours before each session

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Placebo	Drug: Caffeine; Caffeine capsule 6 mg/kg given 1 hour before test; Other Names: Identical looking placebo capsule given 1 hour before test
Experimental: Caffeine	Drug: Caffeine; Caffeine capsule 6 mg/kg given 1 hour before test; Other Names: Identical looking placebo capsule given 1 hour before test

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Endurance measured on an ergometer bicycle	The tests started 1 h following placebo/caffeine

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Isometric endurance (arm flexion)	The tests started 1 h following placebo/caffeine
Isometric maximum arm flexion strength	The tests started 1 h following placebo/caffeine
Fatigue (Borg scale) during ergometer test	After 5 minutes biking and at exhaustion
Postural stability	The tests started 1 h following placebo/caffeine
Reaction time	The tests started 1 h following placebo/caffeine
Walking speed	The tests started 1 h following placebo/caffeine
Biochemistry: lactate, catecholamines, insulin, free fatty acids, glucose	Before intervention; before cycling; after 5 minutes of cycling; and at exhaustion
Withdrawal symptoms	At the end of each test
Side effects	At the end of each test

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Herning Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Martin B Jensen, MD, Ph.d., Surgical Research Unit, Department of Surgery P, Aarhus University Hospital

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Norager CB, Jensen MB, Madsen MR, Laurberg S. Caffeine improves endurance in 75-yr-old citizens: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2005 Dec;99(6):2302-6. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00309.2005. Epub 2005 Aug 4.
• Norager CB, Jensen MB, Weimann A, Madsen MR. Metabolic effects of caffeine ingestion and physical work in 75-year old citizens. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2006 Aug;65(2):223-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2006.02579.x.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2005
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 12, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 12, 2010
• First Posted (Estimate): January 13, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 13, 2010
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 12, 2010
• Last Verified: January 1, 2010

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physiological Effects of Drugs; Central Nervous System Agents; Caffeine
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Physiological Effects of Drugs; Neurotransmitter Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Enzyme Inhibitors; Purinergic Antagonists; Purinergic Agents; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; Purinergic P1 Receptor Antagonists; Central Nervous System Stimulants; Caffeine
• Other Study ID Numbers: MBJ-1