Prevalence and Determinants of Internet Addiction in Medical Students at a Government Medical College in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Introduction: The issue of Internet addiction is rampant amongst medical students as they are vulnerable due to personal, social and academic pressure. It is plausible to foresee a future where this seemingly harmless pastime leads to dire consequences on the mental as well as physical well-being of students.Objectives: This study aims to find out the prevalence of internet addiction among undergraduate students. The study also aims to figure out various determinants and factors that are associated with addiction, such as gender differences, the professional year of the medical student and the main purpose of internet use.Methods: A study was conducted at LLRM Medical College, Meerut, and it included 354 students selected by simple random sampling. They filled out a questionnaire with the first part regarding socio-demographic details and the second part of it is Young’s internet addiction test. According to the score, the students were categorized into normal users (<30), mild addiction (30–50), moderate addiction (50–80) and severe addiction (80–100).Results and discussion: Out of 354 students, 31.63% are mildly addicted, 33.05% are moderately addicted and 3.96% are severely addicted. The remaining 31.35% comprises the normal users. Therefore, a total of 68.64% of students are addicted. The factors associated with a higher risk of addiction are found to be male gender, using social media and first year of college.Conclusion: The increasing prevalence of internet addiction should prove eye-opening for medical students to make better use of their free time by doing productive activities. They must keep an active check regarding their daily screen time.