Abstract

Background: The use of the internet by medical students is unavoidable since it has transformed medical practice with the increasing use of telemedicine and evidence-based medicine. Because the internet is readily available and reasonably priced, students use it to seek pertinent medical information as well as literature. However, sensible usage of internet is strongly suggested by psychologists and educators since over consumption can lead to related medical and psychological disorders. It can be difficult to identify problematic internet use among college students because they use the internet for almost everything in their daily lives, including communication, shopping, business, travel, research, entertainment, and more. It is also difficult to imagine living without the internet.

Aims and Objectives: (i) The aims of the study were to estimate the proportion of internet addiction among the students of a private medical college in Bengaluru and (ii) to identify the factors associated with internet addiction.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out among 225 undergraduate medical students. Young’s internet addiction test was used to assess the prevalence of internet addiction.

Results: The mean age of the study was found to be 19.6 ± 1.03 years. Among the 225 students who participated in the study, 16.45% and 4.45% had moderate and severe internet addiction, respectively. It was found that place of residence, internet use per day (hours), monthly data usage, and most common location and time of internet access significantly affect the extent of pathological internet use among medical students.

Conclusion: Most of the students showed mild-to-moderate use of the internet. With the availability of high-speed internet on mobile phones, constant monitoring of internet use is essential to prevent severe addiction.

Key words: Internet Use; Addiction; Prevalence; Medical Students