Prevalence of Internet Addiction in Medical Students: a Meta-analysis

• Published in: Academic psychiatry 2018-02, Vol.42 (1), p.88-93
• Main Authors: Zhang, Melvyn W. B., Lim, Russell B. C., Lee, Cheng, Ho, Roger C. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addictions; Behavior, Addictive - epidemiology; Bias; Cognitive ability; College Students; Humans; In Depth Article: Systematic and Other Reviews; Internet; Internet access; Medical Education; Medical students; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Meta Analysis; Population; Prevalence; Psychiatry; Questionnaires; Students, Medical - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; University students
• ISSN: 1042-9670; 1545-7230
• DOI: 10.1007/s40596-017-0794-1

Objective With the development of online learning, communication, and entertainment, the Internet has become an indispensable tool for university students. Internet addiction (IA) has emerged as a health problem and the prevalence of IA varies from country to country. To date, the global prevalence of IA in medical students remains unknown. The objective of this meta-analysis was to establish precise estimates of the prevalence of IA among medical students in different countries. Methods The pooled prevalence of IA among medical students was determined by the random-effects model. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis were performed to identify potential factors that could contribute to heterogeneity. Results The pooled prevalence of IA among 3651 medical students is 30.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 28.5–31.8%, Z  = −20.66, df = 9, τ 2  = 0.90) with significant heterogeneity ( I 2  = 98.12). Subgroup analysis shows the pooled prevalence of IA diagnosed by the Chen’s Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) (5.2, 95% CI 3.4–8.0%) is significantly lower than Young’s Internet Addiction Test (YIAT) (32.2, 95% CI 20.9–45.9%) ( p