Abstract
Introduction: This study was conducted to find the nature, impact, whether beneficial or adverse, the e-Devices are having on student’s academics, physical and mental health and, is making their life convenient or harming them. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted in a private medical college in central Kerala and proportions, test of significance like Chi square, t test was used. Objectives: To find the prevalence and pattern of utilization of electronic devices; to evaluate the pattern, purpose of internet usage and factors influencing it; and to assess the need for incorporating computer education in medical curriculum. Results: 350 students participated in the research; 90(25.7%) of students don’t spend money to get access to internet; 255(79.45%) spend 2 hours or less on the internet; 296(84.6%) of students use internet for academic purposes; 152(43.4%) felt that e-Devices made their academic performance better while 40(11.4%) of the students felt it to be worse. 88(25.1%) prefer reading e books over conventional textbooks. 213(60.9%) do not have any problem while using internet but 96(27.4%) students had problems of eye strain while using internet. Conclusions: Most students seem to be able to balance the e-Device used and use it for academic purpose and making their lives efficient. But few got their academic performance worse, and some are suffering from eye strain, so efficient management of time on e-devices and internet without hindering their academic performance is needed.
Highlights
This study was conducted to find the nature, impact, whether beneficial or adverse, the e-Devices are having on student’s academics, physical and mental health and, is making their life convenient or harming them
Students spent an average of 3.44 hours per day on e-devices Standard Deviation (SD) 4.42 hours
On doing further t-test on 95(27.1%) students who complained of eye strain as compared to 254(72.8%) who did not have eye strain, we found that those with complains of eye strain were spending an average of 4.76 hours per day on edevices, as compared to an average of 2.94 hours on e-devices per day by those who did not complain of eye strain, a mean difference of 1.817 hours per day, t=2.650, and P=0.009
Summary
This study was conducted to find the nature, impact, whether beneficial or adverse, the e-Devices are having on student’s academics, physical and mental health and, is making their life convenient or harming them. Conclusions: Most students seem to be able to balance the eDevice used and use it for academic purpose and making their lives efficient. Few got their academic performance worse, and some are suffering from eye strain, so efficient management of time on e-devices and internet without hindering their academic performance is needed. Medical students are spending increasing amount of their time on electronic devices like laptops, smart phones, tablets, Personal Computers, etc.
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