Internet addiction among medical undergraduates in a medical college of West Bengal- a cross-sectional study

Authors

  • Susmita Chaudhuri ESI-PGIMSR & ESIC Medical College, Joka, Kolkata
  • Rekha Dutt All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalyani, West Bengal
  • Shamshad Ahmad All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47203/IJCH.2019.v31i03.012

Keywords:

Internet Addiction, Medical Undergraduates

Abstract

Background: The era of 21st century is burdened with internet usage worldwide specially in the developing countries such as India. Internet addiction has been related to physical, social, psychological impairment. Aim& Objectives: To find out the prevalence of internet addiction among the medical students and the effect of internet addiction on health status among them. Settings and Design: This was an observational descriptive study of cross-sectional design conducted in a tertiary medical college of West Bengal. Material & Methods: All the undergraduate medical students were approached and interview was done using interview schedule consisting of sociodemographic characteristics, Young’s criteria of internet addiction test and Duke’s health profile screening test. Statistical analysis used: Data was analysed using SPSS version 20&presented in percentages, mean with standard deviation, ANOVA with Tukey’s Post-hoc test. Results: Total of 201 participants responded giving a response rate of about 50%. The distribution of respondents as per Young’s criteria of internet addiction which showed that majority of the respondents were mild addicted (58.7%) & moderate addicted (15%).Comparison of Duke health profile score across various internet addicts where physical health score differs significantly among the non-addicted (81.42+20.02) vs mildly addicted (67+20.36)& moderately addicted (63.31+ 20.15) participants (p=0.00). Mental health score also differs considerably among the non-addicts (78.16+18.36) vs mildly addicts (67+18.28) & moderately addicts (61.87+18.33) (p= 0.00). Conclusions: A good number of medical students were addicted to internet that requires timely remedial action. Educational institutions had to formulate strategies so that proper action could be taken.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alawadhi N, IAMAI report. ET Bureau Sep 3, 2015. Available form: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/20150 9/03/news/ 66178659_1_user-base-iamaiinternet-and-mobile-association.

Widyanto L, Griffiths M. Internet addiction: A critical review. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2006; 4:31–51.

Chou C, Hsiao MC. Internet addiction, usage, gratifications, and pleasure experience – The Taiwan college students’ case. Comput Educ. 2000; 35:65–80.

Young KS. Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder. Cyberpsychol Behv 1998; 3:237-44.

Goldberg I. Internet Addiction. 1996. Available at:http://www.urz.uni.heidelberg.de/Netzdienste/anleitung/wwwtips/8/addict.html. Last accessed on Feb 08, 2019.

Davis RA. A cognitive-behavioral model of pathological internet use. Comput Human Behav. 2001; 77:187–95.

Morahan-Martin JM, Schumacker P. Incidence and correlates of pathological internet use. Comput Human Behav. 2000; 16:13–29.

Scherer K. College life online: Healthy and unhealthy internet use. J Coll Stud Dev. 1997; 38:655–65.

Paul AVR, Ganapthi CK, Duraimurugan M, Abirami V, Reji E. Internet Addiction and Associated Factors: A Study among College Students in South India. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15520/ijmhs.2015.vol5.iss3.72.121-125 .

Chou C, Condron L, Belland JC. A review of the research on internet addiction. Educ Psychol Rev. 2005; 17:363–88.

5th ed. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; p. 795.

Chakraborty K, Basu D, Vijaya Kumar KG. Internet addiction: consensus, controversies, and the way ahead. East Asian Arch Psychiatry. 2010 Sep;20(3):123-32. PubMed PMID: 22348866.[PubMed].

Young KS, Rogers RC. The relationship between depression and internet addiction. Cyber psychol Behav. 1998; 1:25–8.

Sharma A, Sahu R, Kasar PK, Sharma R. Internet addiction among professional courses students: A study from Central India. Int J Med Sci Public Health. 2014; 3:1069–73.

Schuntermann MF. [The Duke Health Profile (DUKE)]. Rehabilitation (Stuttg). 1997 Feb;36(1):I-XIV. PubMed PMID: 9213865.[PubMed].

Canan F, Ataoglu A, Ozcetin A, Icmeli C. The association between Internet addiction and dissociation among Turkish college students. Compr Psychiatry. 2012 Jul;53(5):422-6. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2011.08.006. Epub 2011 Oct 13. PubMed PMID: 22000475.[PubMed].

Ghamari F, Mohammadbeigi A, Mohammadsalehi N, Hashiani AA. Internet addiction and modeling its risk factors in medical students, iran. Indian J Psychol Med. 2011 Jul;33(2):158-62. doi: 10.4103/0253-7176.92068. PubMed PMID: 22345841; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3271491.[PubMed].

Dong G, Lu Q, Zhou H, Zhao X. Precursor or sequela: pathological disorders in people with Internet addiction disorder. PLoS One. 2011 Feb 16;6(2):e14703. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014703. PubMed PMID: 21358822; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3040174.[PubMed].

Ceyhan AA, Ceyhan E. Loneliness, depression, and computer self-efficacy as predictors of problematic internet use. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2008 Dec;11(6):699-701. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2007.0255. PubMed PMID: 19072150.[PubMed].

Prakash S. Internet addiction among Junior doctors: A cross sectional study. IJ Psycho Med 2017,30;4:422-425.

Berner JE, Santander J, Contreras AM, Gómez T. Description of internet addiction among Chilean medical students: a cross-sectional study. Acad Psychiatry. 2014 Feb;38(1):11-4. doi: 10.1007/s40596-013-0022-6. Epub 2014 Jan 16. PubMed PMID: 24430588.[PubMed].

Zhang MWB, Lim RBC, Lee C, Ho RCM. Prevalence of Internet Addiction in Medical Students: a Meta-analysis. Acad Psychiatry. 2018 Feb;42(1):88-93. doi: 10.1007/s40596-017-0794-1. Epub 2017 Aug 28. Review. PubMed PMID: 28849574.[PubMed].

Mishra S, Draus P, Goreva N, Leone G, Caputo D. The impact of Internet addiction on university students and its effect on subsequent academic success: A survey-based study. Issues Info Syst. 2014;15(1):344–352. [Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2019-09-30

How to Cite

1.
Chaudhuri S, Dutt R, Ahmad S. Internet addiction among medical undergraduates in a medical college of West Bengal- a cross-sectional study. Indian J Community Health [Internet]. 2019 Sep. 30 [cited 2024 Nov. 22];31(3):371-5. Available from: http://iapsmupuk.org/journal/index.php/IJCH/article/view/1093

Issue

Section

Original Article

Dimensions Badge