Association Between Virtual Social Networks and Health-Promoting Lifestyles in Medical University Students

Medical students make extensive use of virtual social networks, especially in the era of the coronavirus pandemic, so that their health-promoting behaviors may be adversely affected.

 This study aimed to determine the relationship between the use of virtual social networks and a health-promoting lifestyle among postgraduate medical students.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among post-graduate students studying at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2020. A total of 240 students were included using quota sampling method. Data were collected via valid and reliable questionnaires consisting of socio-demographic information, health-promoting lifestyle Profile-II, and virtual social networks utilization. The spearman test was employed to evaluate the association between virtual social networks and lifestyle.

The mean age of participants was 32.21±7.45 and 75.4% were female. The mean score of lifestyle was 138.28±21.18, while the mean score of virtual social networks utilization was (64.55±11.40). There was a statistically significant correlation between utilization of virtual social networks and total score of lifestyle (r=-0.189, P=0.003), as well as physical activity (r=-0.232, P=0.001), nutrition (r=-0.179, P=0.005), and self-actualization (r=-0.154 , P=0.017) of health promoting lifestyle. Linear regression model showed that utilization of internet and social networks (B=-0.37, P=0.02), utilization in the time between 12 pm and 8 am (B=-14.3, P=0.011) were independently associated with Health Promoting Lifestyle score.

This study showed that more than half of students had a healthy lifestyle (55%). The average score of virtual social networks used by students was high. Utilization of internet and the time of utilization were independent predictors of Health Promoting Lifestyle score.