Internet Addiction and Sleep Disorders among Medical Students

Abstract

Background. Considering the increasing use of the Internet in Iranian society, especially among students, and the importance of sleep quality, the present study investigated the relationship between sleep quality and Internet addiction among medical students in Shiraz. Methods. In this descriptive-analytical study, the sample included students of the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences who were selected by a multistage sampling method in 2018. Each faculty was considered to be stratified, and the samples were selected from all strata by simple random sampling. A total of 400 student questionnaires were eligible for analysis. The level of sleep disturbance was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was used to evaluate Internet addiction. Cronbach’s alpha for PSQI and IAT was 0.77 and 0.93, respectively. Results. 109 (%28.9) and 58 (%14.4) of all the people under study were at risk of Internet addiction or poor sleep quality, respectively. The highest percentage of poor sleep quality was in those who were addicted to the Internet (60%), but the lowest percentage was observed in the group without addiction (27%). In addition, there was a significant correlation between Internet addiction and subjective sleep quality (r = 0.191, $p$  = 0.05), sleep latency (r = 0.129, $p$  = 0.01), sleep duration (r = 0.119, $p$  = 0.01), habitual sleep efficiency (r = 0.186, $p$  = 0.05), sleep disturbances (r = 0.169, $p$  = 0.01), use of sleeping medication (r = 0.203, $p$  = 0.05), and daytime dysfunction (r = 0.188, $p$  = 0.05). Conclusion. These findings help national health officials and planners in Iran to design appropriate and effective interventions to improve students’ health and prevent Internet addiction.