Internet Addiction among Undergraduate Medical Students of a Medical College: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Internet addiction denotes the compulsive use of the internet which affects physical, mental, social, psychological and academic aspects of life of an individual. Very few studies among medical students in regard to internet addiction have been conducted. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of internet addiction among undergraduate medical students of a medical college. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in a medical college from September to December, 2021 after obtaining ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Committee (Registration number: 442). The study was conducted among 229 medical students using convenience sampling technique. Internet addiction test questionnaire was used for collecting data. Data were entered in Google Spreadsheet and analysed with Microsoft Excel 2016. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: The prevalence of internet addiction among 229 undergraduate students was found to be 121 (52.84%) (43.95-61.73 at 95% Confidence Interval). Out of them, mild and moderate internet addiction accounted for 90 (74.38%) and 31 (25.62%) respectively. Conclusions: The prevalence of internet addiction in this study was higher in comparison to the other studies conducted in similar settings.