Prevalence of internet addiction and its correlation with academic performance among pre-university students of selected college Belagavi – a cross sectional study

Introduction: In this competitive world, life without an internet is unimaginable. Internet can be used for the work, entertainment, education and many other purposes. However, it is misused or abused especially among adolescents. Internet use is more in college, school and university students. Objective: To assess the prevalence of Internet Addiction (IA) and to find the correlation between IA and Academic Performance (AP). Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 160-second year pre-university students studying in pre-university college. Sample size were calculated by simple random sampling. Written inform consent were obtained from students. Young internet addiction test 20 item questionnaire was introduced along with this last year internal assessments marks were obtained. Data were analyze using SPSS software, Chi-square and correlation analysis. Results: Among the 160 students 83(51.9%) were males and 77(48.1%) were females. Internet addiction is more in males when compare to females. The prevalence of addiction to internet according to Internet Addiction Test (IAT) 39(24.4%) participants were found, as mild users. 103 (64.4%) participants were moderate users and 18 (11.3%) participants were found severely addicted to the internet. In terms of demographic characters, only gender was significantly associated to the level of addiction. There was significantly positive correlation found between IA and AP. Conclusion: Internet addiction is prevalent among pre university students. It is growing health problem among students. The challenge is to have a control of social-media and time spent online.