Internet Addiction among Undergraduate Students of a Medical College in North India

JOURNAL TITLE: Journal of Medical Academics

Author
1. Vertika Agarwal
2. Sunil Kumar Garg
3. Seema Jain
ISSN
DOI
10.5005/jp-journals-10070-0049
Volume
3
Issue
1
Publishing Year
2020
Pages
3
Author Affiliations
    1. Mumbai
    2. Cocoon Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
    3. District Hospital, Durg, Chhattisgarh, India
    1. Department of Community Medicine, Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India
    1. Department of ENT, Bombay Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • Article keywords

    Abstract

    Aim and objective: To assess the pattern of Internet use, to classify levels of Internet addiction, and to find out possible associated factors related to Internet addiction Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 on undergraduate students of a medical college. The participants were asked to fill a questionnaire that had two parts. Part 1 was a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire pertaining to sociodemographic profile and characteristics of the Internet and computer use, and part 2 contained Internet addiction scale to evaluate internet addiction level of these students. The data collected were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. Results: In all, 70.6% of undergraduate medical students had some degree of Internet addiction. The factors statistically associated with Internet addiction were gender, place of living, login status, purpose of Internet use, average Internet use per day, and expenditure on Internet usage. Conclusion: According to this study, the prevalence of internet addiction was high among medical students. We recommend controlling Internet addiction by building healthy living environment around these students, promoting other activities like book reading and sports, and providing counseling to those with addiction. Clinical significance: Internet addiction is a budding health problem and more so in college students.

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