Correlation Between Internet Addiction and General Health in Students of Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2018

The increasing demand of people and students for computer technology and the Internet has caused mental health problems and social communication in them. In this study, the relationship between Internet addiction and general health in students of Qom University of Medical Sciences has been investigated.

This descriptive-correlation study was performed on 321 students living in Qom dormitory of medical sciences through demographic, general health (GHQ) and Internet addiction questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software in two parts: descriptive statistics, mean, frequency, frequency percentage and inferential statistics of Pearson correlation coefficient and univariate linear regression.

79.8% of students were regular users and 20.2% of students were addicted to the Internet and no severe Internet addiction was observed. According to the general health questionnaire, 13.1% of students had mild disorder, 66% had moderate disorder and 20.9% had severe disorder. Pearson correlation coefficient between scales and general health in general with Internet addiction showed a significant and positive relationship at a significant level of 0.05. In linear regression analysis, the only variable is the duration of internet connection under the same conditions in terms of other variables that predict the general health score.

There is a significant and positive relationship between public health and Internet addiction. Preventing the complications and dangers of Internet addiction is essential and requires educational, counseling, and behavioral planning among vulnerable students.