Abstract :
Introduction: With explosive growth in the use of internet world wide India has also seen rapid expansion in the number of internet users with 460 million users according to recent survey. Wi-Fi enabled campuses along with increase in smart phone usage has lead to internet addiction among university students.
Aims and Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess the level of internet addiction among first year medical students.
Materials and Method: A Questionnaire based Cross sectional study based on Young’s internet addiction scale was conducted among 130 first year medical students belonging to 2016-2017 batch.
Results: Mean age of students in the study was 18.07% and average time spent on internet was 2.34hrs/day. 15.4%were found to be average internet users and 61.50% of students fall into the category of possible addicts. 23.10%of students fall into the category of internet addiction.
Conclusion: The present study unfolds the dark reality of internet addiction among medical students which requires development of strategies to prevent internet addiction and to prepare a comprehensive program to create awareness and to promote healthy usage of internet.
Keyword :
Internet addiction, Medical students, Wi-Fi enabled campus, Smart phones, Young’s internet addiction scale