Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Its Association with the Quality of Sleep among First and Second Year MBBS students

Background: Internet addiction could be a major concern in medical students aiming to develop into health professionals. The implications of this addiction as well as its association with the quality of sleep can hinder their studies, impact their long-term career goals and have wide and detrimental consequences for society as a whole. Aims: The objective is to know the level of internet addiction and its correlation with the quality of sleep Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was performed on first and second year medical students with young's internet addiction test and Pittsburgh sleep quality scale to assess the level of internet addiction disorder and the quality of sleep. The data was tabulated using MS Excel sheet and was analyzed. Results: A total of 232 students participated; 114(49.1%) were males and 118(50.9%) are females. Internet addiction was found to be mild in 146(62.93%) individuals and moderate in 74(31.89%) individuals and severe in 12(5.17%) individuals, whereas poor sleep quality is found in 64(27.85%) individuals .a significant correlation was found between internet addiction and quality of sleep. Other significant association linked to the internet addiction is gender, mostly male students are affected. Conclusion: Sleep problems and poor sleep quality among medical students are related to high Internet use. And majority of internet usage is due to games and browsing further studies are needed to fully understand the factors that affect sleep behavior and Internet addiction among the medical students.