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Internet addiction and associated factors among medical and allied health sciences students in northern Tanzania : A cross-sectional study

Mboya, Innocent B. LU orcid ; Leyaro, Beatrice John ; Kongo, Alberto ; Mkombe, Charles ; Kyando, Eliah and George, Johnston (2020) In BMC psychology 8. p.1-8
Abstract

Background: Internet addiction is one of the fast-growing addictive behaviors and is a significant public health problem affecting a large number of people worldwide. Excessive use of the internet among university students increases their risk of internet addiction and related negative consequences. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with internet addiction among medical and allied health sciences students in northern Tanzania. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo) from May to June 2018. A total of 500 consenting undergraduate students were sampled using the Simple Random Sampling technique proportional to the size of each class and... (More)

Background: Internet addiction is one of the fast-growing addictive behaviors and is a significant public health problem affecting a large number of people worldwide. Excessive use of the internet among university students increases their risk of internet addiction and related negative consequences. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with internet addiction among medical and allied health sciences students in northern Tanzania. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo) from May to June 2018. A total of 500 consenting undergraduate students were sampled using the Simple Random Sampling technique proportional to the size of each class and a self-administered questionnaire used to collect data. Internet addiction was measured using a 20-item internet addiction test (IAT-20). Generalized linear model with Poisson family and log link function was used to estimate prevalence ratio (PR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals for factors associated with internet addiction. Results: The prevalence of internet addiction was 31%. Undergraduate students using the internet at the college were less likely to be addicted to internet (PR = 0.45, 95%CI 0.23, 0.86, p = 0.02) compared to those using both at the hostel/home and college. Higher prevalence of internet addiction was among those who used internet for a long time, i.e., 5 h or more per day (PR = 1.84, 95%CI 1.30, 2.63, p = 0.001) and for social networking (PR = 1.64, 95%CI 1.17, 2.31, p = 0.004) compared to those who used for less than 5 h per day and academic purposes, respectively. Conclusions: Thirty-one percent of undergraduate students in northern Tanzania were addicted to the internet. Internet addiction was associated with using the internet at the college, a long time using the internet per day, and social networking. The college administration should put effort into improving the accessibility, reliability, and regulation of college internet services to promote learning and academic productivity. We also recommend awareness creation intervention about the harmful consequences of excessive internet use in this population. More studies are needed to determine the burden of mental, psychological, and social problems associated with internet addiction in high-risk populations, and associated consequences.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Internet addiction, Internet addiction test, Prevalence, Tanzania, University students
in
BMC psychology
volume
8
article number
73
pages
1 - 8
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:32646491
  • scopus:85087796883
ISSN
2050-7283
DOI
10.1186/s40359-020-00439-9
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s).
id
032ed094-e1eb-4a89-b894-8fa56e608705
date added to LUP
2022-09-29 10:07:17
date last changed
2024-03-21 14:14:17
@article{032ed094-e1eb-4a89-b894-8fa56e608705,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Internet addiction is one of the fast-growing addictive behaviors and is a significant public health problem affecting a large number of people worldwide. Excessive use of the internet among university students increases their risk of internet addiction and related negative consequences. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with internet addiction among medical and allied health sciences students in northern Tanzania. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo) from May to June 2018. A total of 500 consenting undergraduate students were sampled using the Simple Random Sampling technique proportional to the size of each class and a self-administered questionnaire used to collect data. Internet addiction was measured using a 20-item internet addiction test (IAT-20). Generalized linear model with Poisson family and log link function was used to estimate prevalence ratio (PR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals for factors associated with internet addiction. Results: The prevalence of internet addiction was 31%. Undergraduate students using the internet at the college were less likely to be addicted to internet (PR = 0.45, 95%CI 0.23, 0.86, p = 0.02) compared to those using both at the hostel/home and college. Higher prevalence of internet addiction was among those who used internet for a long time, i.e., 5 h or more per day (PR = 1.84, 95%CI 1.30, 2.63, p = 0.001) and for social networking (PR = 1.64, 95%CI 1.17, 2.31, p = 0.004) compared to those who used for less than 5 h per day and academic purposes, respectively. Conclusions: Thirty-one percent of undergraduate students in northern Tanzania were addicted to the internet. Internet addiction was associated with using the internet at the college, a long time using the internet per day, and social networking. The college administration should put effort into improving the accessibility, reliability, and regulation of college internet services to promote learning and academic productivity. We also recommend awareness creation intervention about the harmful consequences of excessive internet use in this population. More studies are needed to determine the burden of mental, psychological, and social problems associated with internet addiction in high-risk populations, and associated consequences.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mboya, Innocent B. and Leyaro, Beatrice John and Kongo, Alberto and Mkombe, Charles and Kyando, Eliah and George, Johnston}},
  issn         = {{2050-7283}},
  keywords     = {{Internet addiction; Internet addiction test; Prevalence; Tanzania; University students}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--8}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC psychology}},
  title        = {{Internet addiction and associated factors among medical and allied health sciences students in northern Tanzania : A cross-sectional study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00439-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s40359-020-00439-9}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}