title: Quality of Life in Medical Students With Internet Addiction.
abstract: The widespread use of internet has caused new psychological, social, and educational problems for the students. The aim of this study was to examine the quality of life in medical students who suffer from internet addiction. This cross-sectional survey was carried out in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and a total of 174 fourth-to seventh-year undergraduate medical students were enrolled. The quality of life was assessed by WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire which covers four domains of physical health, psychological, social relationships, and the environment. For assessing internet addiction, we used Internet Addiction Test (IAT) of Young. The students with IAT score higher than 50 were considered as addicted. For evaluating academic performance, the students were requested to report their grade point average (GPA). The mean IA score (±SD) was 34.13±12.76. Twenty-eight students (16.90%) had IAT score above 50. The mean quality of life score in internet addicted group was 54.97±11.38 versus 61.65±11.21 in normal group (P=0.005). Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between IA score and physical domain (r=-0.18, P=0.02); psychological domain (r=-0.35, P=0.000); and social relation domain (r=-0.26, P=0.001). Mean GPA was significantly lower in the addicted group. It seems that quality of life is lower in the internet addicted medical students; moreover, such students academically perform poorer in comparison with non-addicts. Since internet addiction is increasing at a rapid pace which may provoke considerable academic, psychological and social implications; as a result, it may require screening programs to the immediate finding of such problem to give consultations to prevent unwanted complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. AND Department of Neurology, Iranian Center of Neurological Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fatehi
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy of Sciences, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monajemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Anahita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Department of E-Learning in Medical Education, Center of Excellence for E-Learning in Medical Education, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mojtahedzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of E-Learning in Medical Education, Center of Excellence for E-Learning in Medical Education, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. AND Department of Medical Education, Health Professions Education Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. AND Department of Internal Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Azim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mirzazadeh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders; D011788:Quality of Life; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Academic performance; Internet addiction; Iran; Medical students; Quality of life