Mechanisms for the reduction of caffeine consumption: What, how and why.

Background: Anecdotal evidence suggests consumers of caffeine self-administer strategies to reduce consumption, but little is known of what these strategies are or how they are implemented. This study aimed to understand the lived experience of reducing caffeine consumption including specific techniques (what) and implementation strategies (how), harm and withdrawal symptoms (why).

Methods: We developed a classification system through an inductive and deductive approach and applied it to a large dataset derived from online sources.