A cross sectional study to assess prevalence of internet addiction and its relationship with personality traits and associated psychiatric conditions in undergraduate medical students of an Indian university

Abstract

Background: In India, 622 million internet users were found out of which our nationally representative data suggest that about 20% to 40% of college students in India are at risk for internet addiction (IA). Therefore, the research on its addiction is on the rise and is an established concern. Objectives: To study the prevalence of internet addiction in undergraduate medical graduates associating its impact, on personality traits and psychiatric conditions like depression, anxiety and stress. Methods: It is a cross sectional study based on undergraduate medical students of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha. It is a convenience based sampling method and a Krejcie-Morgan Formula is used. Using this, the sample size came out to be 300. Clearance from the ethics committee will be obtained. An informed consent from the students will be taken, thereafter they will be asked to fill socio demographic data and then will be subjected to the following questionnaires: 1)Young’s Internet addiction test 2) DASS 21 3)Brief Big Five inventory scale Results: We will be able to determine the prevalence of internet addiction among medical students after we have the results from the aforementioned questionnaires, their personality traits and development of psychiatric co- morbidities like depression, anxiety and stress. Conclusions: We’ll be able to know the prevalence of internet addiction in medical students, their personality traits and the development of psychiatric co- morbidities like depression, anxiety and stress.