Effects of internet and social media use among medical students of a tertiary care teaching hospital

ABSTRACT

Background: The launch of many free low cost data packages has put India on the global map for large scale consumption of mobile data leading to exponential usage of social media. Internet has both positive and negative advantages on its users. Excessive use of social media is affecting the lifestyle of youth moreover, statistics show that addiction to social media resulted in increased health problems and change in behavior. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to study the pattern of internet and social media use and its physical and psycho-social effects on the medical students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among medical students at a tertiary care teaching hospital in a rural area using self-administered pretested questionnaire using Google forms. The descriptive statistical analysis of data was performed in the form of mean, standard deviation, percentages, and proportions. Results: The number of male and female participants was 184 (44.4%) and 230 (55.6%), respectively. Almost 37% of students spend more than 4 h on internet daily and 56% students responded that they visit social media more than 6 times/day. Headache, sleep disturbances, and burning sensation of eyes and neck pain were the prominent disabling symptoms. One hundred and twenty-seven (30.7%) students sleep for <6 h and 64.8% students stay up late to access internet and 43.9% students check social media immediately after waking up. Conclusion: Time spent on internet, social media to perform online access can be very productive but compulsive internet and social media use can have negative impact on physical and psycho-social health.