Pattern and Prevalence of Internet Gambling Behaviors among Bet9ja users in Sokoto Metropolis, Northwest Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Nigeria has seen an unparallel surge in the number and sophistication of gambling activities taking place on a daily basis. The scope of the gambling investigation has expanded to include online lotteries, promotions, pool betting, sports betting, and casino slots. Nigeria leads the African continent in the number of Internet gamblers. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among Bet9ja users in the Sokoto metropolis. The participants were selected using a cluster sampling technique. The biodata and South Oak Gambling Screening questionnaire were administered. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23 for Windows and P ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 390 participants were studied, the majority were single males, between the ages of 18 and 39 years, with a mean age and standard deviation of 28.5 ± 7.3 years. We found 4 (1%) of the respondents to be highly skilled (social class I) workers, while the semi-skilled (social class IV) workers amounted to 155 (39.7%) of the participants, and 61 (15.6%) were unemployed. Seventy-five percentage of the participants were probable pathological gamblers, with 263 (89.5%) being males and 31 (10.5%) females. Furthermore, 96 (24.6%) of the participants were nonpathological gamblers, among whom, 77 (80.2%) were males, while 19 (19.8%) were females and this was statistically significant, P = 0.019. Conclusion: Single males and young adults were likely to experience pathological Internet gambling, many of whom were semi-skilled. We also found that the male gender was significantly associated with probable pathological Internet gambling.