Description of internet addiction among chilean medical students: A cross-sectional study

Objective Internet addiction (IA) has been described as an emerging behavior related to the development of new technologies, with scarce studies on the subject and none involving medical students. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) is a screening instrument used to detect IAworldwide, which was published in 1998 and inspired by the DSM-IV criteria for pathologic gambling. The objective of this study aims to measure the prevalence of IA in Chilean medical students and its possible association with demographic variables and depressive symptoms. Methods First- to fifth-year undergraduatemedical students at a medical school in Santiago de Chile answered a selfadministered survey that included demographic data, the IAT scale, and the Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to screen for IA and depressive symptoms, respectively. Results Three hundred eighty-four students participated, achieving a response rate of 69.8 %, of which 11.5 % were classified as problematic users according to the IAT. The authors found a statistical association between positive results on the IATand positive scores on the GHQ-12, as well as with the male gender. Conclusion In this first study of IA in medical students, the authors found a rate of incidence similar to what has been published in the literature focusing on college students. Additionally, there was a positive association between emotional symptoms and other abuse behaviors.