Introduction: The extensive availability of the internet has led to the recognition of problematic internet use (so-called internet addiction—IA) mostly concerning adolescents. Aim: Here, we present a study focusing on the prevalence and risk factors of internet addiction in Hungarian high school students, using a questionnaire-based survey. Results: Overall, 3000 paper-based questionnaires were successfully delivered and 2540 responses were received (response rate of 84.6%). A total of 1309 males (mean age 17.6 ± 1.43 years) (51.5%) and 1231 females (mean age 17.5 ± 1.4 years) (48.5%) took part in our study. Internet addiction was detected in 486 (19.1%) students (232 males, mean age 17.6 ± 1.35 years, and 254 females, mean age 17.34 ± 1.37 years) based on the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire. In a multivariate analysis, age (age of 17, OR = 3.688, p < 0.001), family status (living without parents) (OR = 2.091, p = 0.034), the size of the household (more than five people per household) (OR = 2.546, p = 0.026), spending more than 6 h online (OR = 5.457, p < 0.001), and daily time interval (OR = 84.316, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with internet addiction. Alcohol use (OR = 10.341, p = 0.001), drug intake (OR = 6.689, p = 0.001) and musculoskeletal disorders (OR = 3.966, p = 0.047) were also strongly associated with IA. Conclusion: A significant proportion of our students suffered from IA, which is associated with substance intake (possible abuse) and musculoskeletal pain in the multivariate analysis. Our study also draws attention to the preventable risk factors of IA, such as working hours or nighttime internet use, number of hours spent online and family surroundings.

The extensive availability of the internet has led to the recognition of problematic internet use, the so-called Internet Addiction (IA), mostly involving adolescents. Burnout can lead to substance abuse or addictive behaviour (such as internet addiction) as a coping method. There are insufficient data about internet addiction and its possible association with burnout in adults, especially among healthcare workers. The aim of our present study was to focus on prevalence and the risk factors of internet addiction and its possible association with burnout among healthcare workers in a single hospital applying a questionnaire-based survey. In total, 49 doctors (10.1%), 198 nurses (40.9%), 123 medical assistant (25.4%), 73 other healthcare workers (15.1%), and 42 (1.7%) healthcare associated workers (cleaning, laundry, etc.) have completed our survey. In a multivariate analysis, IA was associated with age between 18 and 25 (OR: 2.6, p = 0.024), surfing on the internet >5 h daily (OR 25.583, p < 0.001), being single (OR: 4.275, p = 0.006), being childless (OR: 3.81, p = 0.011), working less than five years (OR 2.135, p = 0.048) and job type (being healthcare associated worker, OR: 2.907, p = 0.009). Illicit drug intake (OR 52.494, p < 0.001), and diabetes (OR: 4.122, p = 0.043) were also significantly associated with internet addiction. No association of burnout and IA could be found. A small but significant proportion of our healthcare workers suffered from IA, which was associated with substance abuse and diabetes in multivariate analysis. Our study also draws attention to the risk factors of IA such as younger age, family status, working type and working hours internet use. The possible association of burnout and IA merits further investigation.

The extensive availability of Internet has led to the recognition of problematic Internet use (so called Internet addiction, IA) mostly involving adolescents. There are limited data about the prevalence and consequences of IA in adults especially among high school teachers. Here, we present a cross-sectional prospective study focusing on the association of Internet addiction with burnout, depression, insomnia, and lower quality of life among high school teachers taking many co-variates into account. Overall, 623 males (34.3%) and 1194 females (65.7%) participated in our study. Internet addiction was detected in 5.2% (95/1817) based on the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire. Internet addiction was associated with severe burnout (10.5 vs. 2.7%, p < 0.001), moderate (36.8 vs. 1.7%, p < 0.001), and severe (6.3 vs. 0.1%, p < 0.001) depression, insomnia (23.1 vs. 11.4%, p < 0.001), and severe sleep disturbance (severe insomnia, 27.4 vs. 3.8%, p < 0.001) and lower quality of life in all domains (p < 0.001). There was also a significant correlation of the severity of the above-mentioned parameters and the severity of IA (overall scores, p < 0.001 in all cases). In a multivariate analysis including demographic criteria, risk factors medical conditions and the above-mentioned parameters as co-variates internet addiction was significantly associated with depression (OR = 3.836, CI: 2.92–5.44, p = 0.03), and insomnia (OR: 3.932, CI: 3.6–5.69, p = 0.002). This is the first study from Hungary and is one of the first studies showing the association of IA with mental issues, burnout, and lower quality of life among adults. It underlines the clinical importance of problematic Internet use among adults.

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The extensive availability of internet has led to the the recognition of problematic internet use (so called internet addiction, IA) mostly involving adolescents. There is limited data about the prevalence of IA in adults. Here we present a study focusing on the prevalence and risk factors of internet addiction among high school teachers. Overall 2500 paper-based questionnaires were successfully delivered and 1817 responses received (response rate of 72.7%). In our study 1194 females (65.7%) and 623 males (34.3%) participated. In a multivariate analysis including of all factors (demographic data, internet habits, comorbidity etc.) age <35 years (OR: 6.098, CI: 5.09–7.08, p < 0.001), male gender (OR = 5.413, CI: 4.39–6.18, p = 0.002), surfing on the internet > 5 h daily (OR 2.568, CI: 2.03–3.39, p < 0.001), having no children (OR: 1.353, CI: 1.13–1.99, p = 0.0248), and having secondary employment (OR = 11.377, CI: 8.67–13.07, p = 0.001) were significantly associated with internet addiction. This is the first study from Hungary showing the prevalence and risk factors of internet addiction among high school teachers. A small, but significant proportion suffered from IA. Our study also draws attention to the risk factors of IA such as younger age, family status and working type.