Prevalence and factors associated with internet addiction among medical students - A cross-sectional study in Malaysia
- Author:
Siew Mooi Ching
;
Hamidin Awang
;
Vasudevan Ramachandran
;
Sazlyna Mohd Sazlly Lim
;
Wan Aliaa Wan Sulaiman
;
Yoke Loong Foo
;
Anne Yee
;
Fankee Hoo
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Addiction;
medical students;
Malaysia
- MeSH:
Internet;
Students, Medical
- From:
The Medical Journal of Malaysia
2017;72(1):7-11
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Introduction: Internet is important to university students,
especially for medical students who use it to search for
literature and relevant information. However, some of the
users are experiencing a gradual loss of the ability to reduce
the duration and frequency of their internet activities,
despite the negative consequences. The literature on
internet usage among Malaysian medical students is limited.
This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors
associated with internet usage among medical students in a
public university in Malaysia.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed among
all the medical students (Year 1-5). Students were assessed
on their internet activities using the internet addiction
questionnaires (IAT). A Multiple Logistic Regression was
used for data analysis.
Results: The study was conducted among 426 students. The
study population consisted of 156 males (36.6%) and 270
females (63.4%). The mean age was 21.6 ±1.5 years.
Ethnicity distribution among the students was: Malays
(55.6%), Chinese (34.7%), Indians (7.3%) and others (2.3%).
According to the IAT, 36.9% of the study sample was
addicted to the internet. Using the multivariate logistic
regression analysis, we have found that the use of internet
access for entertainment purposes (odds ratio [OR] 3.5, 95%
confidence interval [CI] 1.05-12.00), male students (OR 1.8,
95% CI 1.01-3.21) and increasing frequency of internet usage
were associated with internet addiction (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.09-
1.67).
Conclusion: Internet addiction is a relatively frequent
phenomenon among medical students. The predictors of
internet addiction were male students using it for surfing
and entertainment purposes.
- Full text:P020170303437341630002.pdf
