An online cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence of Internet Addiction among people staying at their home during Lockdown due to COVID-19

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of psychological problems may increase in the period of national and international health-related crises such as COVID-19. When the Lockdown is the only way to prevent people from this kind of infectious disease, in that case, direct social activities are banned by the government, and people have to stay at their homes. This may increase the use of the internet for virtual social contact. This may increase the prevalence of Internet Addiction (IA) among people. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of IA among people living in Varanasi district during the Lockdown period due to the COVID-19 in India. A total of 350 respondents fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were contacted through telephonic call and massage with the help of volunteers living in the selected areas.  An online semi-structured questionnaire consisting of a socio-demographic variables and Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was prepared with the help of the Google Forms. The links of the online questionnaire were forwarded to all the respondents to collect the data. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 27.69±9.62 years and the majority of them belong to age group 18-25 years. The prevalence of IA among the respondents was found respectively 50.29% mild, 18.29% moderate, and 1.71% severe level, while only 29.71% were found as a normal internet user. There was a significant association between IA and age (p<0.05), gender (p<0.05), marital status (p<0.01), and family type (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that the prevalence of psychological problems such as Internet Addiction may increase during the national and international crisis such as COVID19.