title: Is Internet use unhealthy? A cross-sectional study of adolescent Internet overuse.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether problematic internet use is associated with somatic complaints and whether this association remains when checking for internet activity among a random sample of adolescents living in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey of 3,067 8th graders (50.3% females) divided into average (n = 2,708) and problematic (n = 359) Internet users and compared for somatic complaints (backache, overweight, headaches, musculoskeletal pain, sleep problems and sight problems) controlling for sociodemographic and internet-related variables. Logistic regressions were performed for each complaint and for all of them simultaneously controlling variables significant at the bivariate level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the multivariate level, when taken separately, problematic internet users were more likely to have a chronic condition (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] with 95% CI: 1.58 [1.11:2.23]) and to report back pain (aOR: 1.46 [1.04:2.05]), overweight (aOR: 1.74 [1.03:2.93]), musculoskeletal pain (aOR: 1.36 [1.00:1.84]) and sleep problems (aOR: 2.16 [1.62:2.88]). When considered in the full model, only sleep problems remained significant (aOR: 2.03 [1.50:2.74]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirm that problematic internet users report health problems more frequently, with lack of sleep being the most strongly associated and seeming to act as mediator regarding the other ones. Clinicians should remember to screen for excessive internet use their patients complaining of sleep-related problems, back or musculoskeletal pain or overweight. Clinicians should advise parents to limit the amount of time their adolescent children can spend online for leisure activities. Furthermore, limiting the number of devices used to connect to the internet could help warrant enough sleeping time.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Joan-Carles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Suris
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Akre
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piguet
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anne-Emmanuelle
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ambresin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Grégoire
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland; Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berchtold
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*