Effect of Water Supplementation on Cognitive Performances and Mood among Male College Students in Cangzhou, China: Study Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Water accounts for about 75% of brain mass. Cognitive performances and mood may be impaired by hypohydration and improved by water supplementation. Two surveys conducted in China demonstrated that a large proportion of adults and children drank less fluid than the amounts recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society. The association between hypohydration and cognitive performance has not been reported in China. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of water supplementation on cognitive performances and mood among male college students in Cangzhou, China. Methods and Analysis: A randomized controlled trial is designed to test the hypothesis. A total of 68 male college students aged 18–25 years will be recruited and randomly assigned into water-supplementation group (WS group, n = 34) and no water-supplementation group (NW group, n = 34) after an overnight fasting, i.e., without eating foods and drinking fluid for 12 h. The first morning urine will be collected to determine urine osmolality on the water supplementation day. Cognitive performances and mood will be performed before water supplementation by researchers with questionnaire. Subjects in the WS group will drink 400 mL purified water within 5 min, while those in NW group will not drink any fluid. One hour later, urine will be collected and urine osmolality, cognitive performances and mood will be measured again. Mixed model of repeated measures ANOVA will be used to investigate the effect of water supplementation on cognitive performances. The study would provide information about the benefit of water supplementation on cognitive performances. Ethics and Dissemination: The study protocol is reviewed and approved by the Ethical Review Committee of the Chinese Nutrition Society. Ethical approval project identification code is CNS-2015-001. Results will be published according to the CONSORT statement and will be reported in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration: Chinese clinical trial registry. Identifier: ChiCTR-IOR-15007020. Registry name “The effect of hydration on cognitive performance”.