A cross sectional study of prevalence of internet addiction and its association with mental health among college going students in Nagpur city

Abstract

Background: The Internet has become an integral part of life. India is the third largest country in the world next to china and United States in respect of the number of internet users. Adolescents usually have poorer self- control, worse self-regulation, and poorer cognition as compared to adults and are considered the most vulnerable group to the temptations of the internet. Objective of the study was to understand the patterns, preferred use of internet, prevalence Internet addiction and its effect on their mental health status among college students in Nagpur.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in different colleges across in the Nagpur corporation during the period Dec 2016 to May 2017. Pre-validated, pre-tested, structured questionnaire was developed. Young’s 20-item scale for Internet addiction (YIAT) was applied to qualify for the prevalence of Internet addiction. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire has excellent psychometric properties as a screening instrument for psychiatric disorders in nonclinical settings.Results: This study of college students aged 17-25 years with marginally high male representation (51.92%), identified 30.69%, 26.60% and 0.26% students with mild, moderate and severe Internet addiction respectively. Those who are having internet addiction are two times at a risk of having poor mental health (OR = 2.28, p = 0.01).Conclusions: Disproportionate Internet use is an evolving issue among college going students as our study have highlighted that excessive use of the Internet undesirably affects one’s physical and mental health and social well-being.

İnternet Kullanımı ve Bağımlılığı: Bangladeş'te Tıp ve Üniversite Öğrencileri Arasında Akademik ve Akademik Olmayan Amaçlı İnternet Kullanım Düzeyini Belirlemeye Yönelik Kesitsel Bir Çalışma

“…The current study participants were principally mild to moderate internet users were quite similar with multiple Indian studies [53,54]. These study participants mainly use the internet for entertainment, internet gaming, social networking, online communication, and academic reasons which were also like earlier overseas studies [55][56][57][58].…”

Mobile Phone Utility and Its Effects on Health among Medical Students in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh

“…Bagday et al study in Nagpur city showed 5.96% were using internet on mobile phones for chatting, 59.59% for shopping and 40.92% for games was less compared to our study. 25 Mobile phone was used by 14.4%, 5.8% for playing games and for watching movies and listening songs it was 21.81%, 8.3% according to Damor et al and Ghosh et al which was again less compared to our study. 22,23 A study conducted by Damor et al in Gujarat showed that 41.8% students said mobile phones hampered their academic performance which is almost similar to our study.…”

Mobile phone usage pattern and its health effects among medical students in north Karnataka: an observational study

“…Bagday et al study in Nagpur city showed 5.96% were using internet on mobile phones for chatting, 59.59% for shopping and 40.92% for games was less compared to our study. 3 For playing games, mobile phone was used by 14.4%, 5.8% and for watching movies and songs 21.81%, 8.3% according to Damor et al and Ghosh et al was again less compared to our study. 4,10 A study conducted by Damor et al in Gujarat indicated that 41.8% said mobile phones impaired academic performance which is almost similar to our study.…”