AbstractIntroduction:Internet addiction is defined as "the inability to control the use of Internet that leads to feelings of pressure, anxiety and dysfunctional behaviours in everyday activities". The phenomenon of reckless use of the Internet by young people has taken enormous dimensions and has created problems for the mental and social functioning leading them to addiction.
Aim & Objectives: Study the prevalence of internet addiction in MBBS intern students in our college.
Methodology: This study is a cross-sectional study conducted at Index Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Indore for duration of 6 Months. Subjects were interns taken from MBBS batch 2017 fulfilling the inclusion criteria.
Result: In the present study, 102 (52%) were from male students and 98 (48%) from female students. The age group was 18-25 and they are intern students. It was observed that student go late for night sleep, they are deprived of good sleep duration as the college starts at 8 for about 93% of the students, and 68% of the students had social media and internet as a reason for sleeping late at night for academic or non-academic purpose.
In this study, 39% to 45% of the students slept for fewer hours than the recommended sleep duration because of late-night social media site use. 54% students answered that they don’t believe their life would be boring without internet, while the 18% stated they cannot live without internet use, believing that their life would be vain. 10% students said they felt very annoyed while they were busy on Internet while the remaining 18% said they were not particularly bothered.
Conclusion: Internet offers incredible possibilities; it feeds us with information, news, entertainment, etc. It is a useful interactive tool, which facilitates our everyday life when used reasonably. Further our study reported that, excessive social media use decreases social face to face interaction. This has a negative impact on social well-being and can lead to depression, anxiety, and mood swings.
