A cross-sectional study on assessment of prevalence of Internet addiction and its correlates among professional college students

Background: There has been a growing social concern about the excessive use of Internet in recent times. The exponential growth of the Internet has caused a huge impact on interpersonal communication and behaviour. Methods: This cross-sectional study was designed to assess the prevalence and determinants of Internet addiction among professional college students. Study was conducted after obtaining approval from Institutional Ethics Committee and permission from the concerned colleges. Total participants were 934 students from four different colleges in Bagalkot city. Participants were given a specially designed proforma and Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT), an instrument to categorise the subjects based on severity. Results: This study of college students had total 934 subjects with age groups between 15 and 30 years (mean±SD=20.10±1.86 years), with female and male population representing 55.2% and 44.8% respectively. The prevalence of severe Internet addiction was found to be 0.6%, and 18.8% having moderate addiction. Nearly, 47.4% of the subjects with moderate addiction were using Internet for more than ten hours per day. Conclusion: Internet addiction needs to be considered as a serious issue among college students. It is the need of the hour to create awareness of this entity to the vulnerable population.