Cell Phone and Internet Addiction among Students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences- Iran

Objective: In recent years, there has been a rapid expansion in use of Internet and cell phone. The purpose of this survey was to identify the extent of cell phone and Internet addiction and relationship between these two forms of behavioral addiction in students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2012. Sampling method was convenience and sample size of 1180 persons was considered. Participants completed demographic questionnaire, Internet Addiction Test, Mobile Phone Addiction Index. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 18.0, T?test and one way ANOVA were used to identify the possible relations between demographic variables and cell phone and Internet addiction. Results: Overall prevalence of internet addiction was 20% and moderate and severe internet addictions were19.1% and .9%, respectively. The prevalence of cell phone use addiction was 56.2%% for female students and 64.5%% for male students. Conclusion: Internet and cell phone addiction were related to male gender, age less than 25 year, higher educated father, and high socioeconomic status of family. Educational institutions such as schools and universities should try to develop new teaching concepts to educate the students to use internet and cell phone meaningfully and correctly.