Internet use and Physical Health Problems in School Going  Students

Authors

Adolescent, back pain, cell phone, headache, internet, neck pain

Background: The Internet and mobile phone is becoming increasingly important and essential to the

educational and social lives of adolescents and have become an integral part of their lives. Misuse or

excessive use of the internet can cause mental and physical health issues in adolescents. 35% of internet

users in India are adolescents. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate internet use and physical health

problems in school going adolescents.

Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted on 1600 school students (14-16 year of age) of Kolhapur

city, Maharashtra. A semi-structured questionnaire with questions pertaining to internet use and associated

health issues was used for data collection. Data was analysed using R Studio V 1.2.5001.

Results: Most of the students (48.1%) use the internet for 1-2 hours every day, 2-6 days a week and the

phone was the common mode of internet use (48%). A significant association was observed between internet

usage time and complications such as headache, neck pain, eye dryness, eye redness, thumb pain, backache,

numbness in the finger, and disturbed sleep (P = 0.0004). A significant association was noted between the

mode of internet usage and wrist pain (P= 0.004).

Conclusion: A number of physical health complications were found to be associated with internet usage

with the mode of internet also playing a significant role.