Internet Addiction and Its relationship with Nursing Students’ Health Profile

Abstract

Background: Nursing students need to be aware of the optimal use of the Internet because they spend a lot of time conducting scientific research that complements the academic curriculum, but when a nursing student becomes unable to control the use of the Internet, this leads to internet addiction and this will affect their physical, psychological and social health. Aim: This study was to assess internet addiction and its relationship with the nursing student"s health profile. Design: a descriptive correlative study design was used to achieve the aim of this study. Setting: The study was conducted at the Technical Institute of Nursing, Fayoum University. The sample: A simple random sample (322) nursing students Out of 754 Nursing students. Tools of data collection: The study included three tools first tool: a self-administered questionnaire to assess the socio-demographic characteristics of nursing students. Second tool: Young Internet Addiction Scale (IAT) to assess the level of internet addiction; the third tool: The Duke Health Profile. Results: It was found that 8.1% of nursing students were addictive internet users and15.5% of them were at risk. 80.8%, 80.0% of addicts, and at-risk students had poor total the duke health profile, and 78.9% average internet user students had good total manual scoring for the duke health profile. A positive highly statistically significant difference between the level of Internet Addiction and the duke health profile (p <0.001).Conclusion: The current study concluded that a nursing student who is addicted to the Internet negatively affects the physical, psychological, and social health, unlike the student who does not overuse the Internet. Recommendations: The hazards and determinants of Internet technology should be added to the educational curricula and the methods that must be followed to avoid its adverse effects on physical, psychological, and social well-being.