TY - JOUR
T1 - Internet addiction and sleep quality among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - A multinational cross-sectional survey
AU - Tahir, Muhammad Junaid
AU - Malik, Najma Iqbal
AU - Ullah, Irfan
AU - Khan, Hamza Rafique
AU - Perveen, Shahida
AU - Ramalho, Rodrigo
AU - Siddiqi, Ahsun Rizwan
AU - Waheed, Summaiya
AU - Mohamed Shalaby, Mahmoud Mohamed
AU - de Berardis, Domenico
AU - Jain, Samiksha
AU - Vetrivendan, Gautham Lakshmipriya
AU - Chatterjee, Harshita
AU - Gopar Franco, William Xochitun
AU - Shafiq, Muhammad Ahsan
AU - Fatima, Naira Taiba
AU - Abeysekera, Maria
AU - Sayyeda, Qudsia
AU - Shamat, Shamat Fathi
AU - Aiman, Wajeeha
AU - Akhtar, Qirat
AU - Devi, Arooj
AU - Aftab, Anam
AU - Shoib, Sheikh
AU - Lin, Chung Ying
AU - Pakpour, Amir H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Tahir et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Background The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of many people, including medical students. The present study explored internet addiction and changes in sleep patterns among medical students during the pandemic and assessed the relationship between them. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in seven countries, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guyana, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and Sudan, using a convenience sampling technique, an online survey comprising demographic details, information regarding COVID-19, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Results In total, 2749 participants completed the questionnaire. Of the total, 67.6% scored above 30 in the IAT, suggesting the presence of an Internet addiction, and 73.5% scored equal and above 5 in the PSQI, suggesting poor sleep quality. Internet addiction was found to be significant predictors of poor sleep quality, causing 13.2% of the variance in poor sleep quality. Participants who reported COVID-19 related symptoms had disturbed sleep and higher internet addiction levels when compared with those who did not. Participants who reported a diagnosis of COVID-19 reported poor sleep quality. Those living with a COVID-19 diagnosed patient reported higher internet addiction and worse sleep quality compared with those who did not have any COVID-19 patients in their surroundings. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that internet addiction and poor sleep quality are two issues that require addressing amongst medical students. Medical training institutions should do their best to minimize their negative impact, particularly during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - Background The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of many people, including medical students. The present study explored internet addiction and changes in sleep patterns among medical students during the pandemic and assessed the relationship between them. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in seven countries, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guyana, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and Sudan, using a convenience sampling technique, an online survey comprising demographic details, information regarding COVID-19, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Results In total, 2749 participants completed the questionnaire. Of the total, 67.6% scored above 30 in the IAT, suggesting the presence of an Internet addiction, and 73.5% scored equal and above 5 in the PSQI, suggesting poor sleep quality. Internet addiction was found to be significant predictors of poor sleep quality, causing 13.2% of the variance in poor sleep quality. Participants who reported COVID-19 related symptoms had disturbed sleep and higher internet addiction levels when compared with those who did not. Participants who reported a diagnosis of COVID-19 reported poor sleep quality. Those living with a COVID-19 diagnosed patient reported higher internet addiction and worse sleep quality compared with those who did not have any COVID-19 patients in their surroundings. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that internet addiction and poor sleep quality are two issues that require addressing amongst medical students. Medical training institutions should do their best to minimize their negative impact, particularly during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0259594
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0259594
M3 - Article
C2 - 34739502
AN - SCOPUS:85118970868
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 16
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 11 November
M1 - e0259594
ER -