Withdrawal Symptoms and Executive Functions After 24-Hour Caffeine Abstinence in Office Workers with Habitual Coffee Consumption

Objective: This research aimed to investigate withdrawal symptoms and executive functions (EFs) after 24-hour caffeine abstinence in office workers with habitual coffee consumption.Material and Methods: Eighteen male office workers (age 32.94±4.14 years, computer use for work 5.33±0.77 h/d, caffeine consumption 225.83±88.80 mg/d) participated in this within-subjects designed experiment. Participants completed the Caffeine Withdrawal Symptoms Questionnaire, Trail Making Test (TMT), and Flanker Test after 24-hour caffeine abstinence, preceded by a baseline measure during normal consumption. Results: The mean score for total caffeine withdrawal symptoms, drowsiness/fatigue, decreased alertness/difficulty concentrating, mood disturbances, decreased sociability/motivation to work, flu-like feeling, and headache was greater after caffeine abstinence compared with the baseline normal consumption (all p-values