With the globalization, the use of internet has increased many folds in the last decades, and internet addiction has become a severe public health issue among the young population both in developed and developing countries around the world. A total of 350 students using simple random sampling were recruited in this study, of whom 115 were enrolled in 2nd year, 140 in 3rd year and 95 in 4th year of their study. Self-reported questionnaire Young’s Inter Addiction scale and Beck Depression Inventory were used to assess internet addiction and depression.
Among the participants, 258 (73.7%) were female and 92 (26.3%) were male. The mean Inter Addiction Score (IAS) was found to be decreasing with increasing year of enrolment. Mean IAS was found to be 60.7±20.4 for 2nd year students, 59.4±14.9 for 3rd year students and 56.5±16.3 among 4th year students. Similarly, the prevalence of addiction was found to peak among 3rd year students and then decrease. Statistical significance in addicted vs. non-addicted was not observed in 2nd and 4th year students, but was observed in among 3rd year students. Aggregating students from all years of enrolment, the difference in percentage of students addicted (76.9%) vs not addicted (23.1%) was not found to be statistically significant (p>0.05). The percentage of students depressed among 2nd years was 73.0%, for 3rd years was 82.9% and for 4th years was 72.6%. Difference in percentage of students depressed vs. not depressed was 82.9% and 17.1% respectively and this difference was statistically significant (p>0.05).
From these findings, intervention needs to be taken for medical students regarding the proper use of internet for both academic and non-academic purposes.