Internet addiction and depression among medical students, Gurugram”,

Introduction: Internet use in India is increasing globally and has become a major part of daily life. Use of technology by health professionals for education and clinical care is evolving interest. College students are vulnerable to developing dependence on internet due to ease of use, unlimited access, limited supervision. They use internet for social media, email and online medical records. With this background the present study was conducted to assess the pattern of internet use and internet addiction among 130 medical students of Gurugram and also to find any association between depression and internet addiction among them. Youngs internet addiction scale and Becks depression scale along with a predesigned semistructed questionnaire was used. Results: The mean age of participants was 20.15 + 1.89years. Majority, 83% belonged to 17-20 age group. About 23.08% were severely addicted to internet. Most common gadget used by participants for internet access was mobile.11.54% reported of being online more then 6hrs.About 8.46% were severely depressed. Gender was significantly associated with internet addiction, girls being more addicted than boys (p<0.05). Significant association was also found between internet addiction and depression (p<0.05) Conclusion: All teachers, health care providers should pay closer attention to students who show internet addiction and depression. For the detection of high-risk students, it is important to regularly screen. In order to prevent the transition to addiction there is need to develop preventive interventions including counselling.