The relationship between Internet Addiction and General Healthamong student dormitories inTehran University of Medical Sciences in 2010.

Introduction Internet is a potentially useful instrument; however, its excessive and inappropriate use poses the risk of being addicted to it. Internet should be considered a system that is so far the largest human-design, engineering. Internet information resources and services involve a broad prominent World Wide Web and e-mail. This study was conducted to assess the relationship between internet addiction and general health among students of Tehran University of Medical Science. Materials and Methods This cross- sectional study was conducted in residence halls of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2010. In this study, 235 students (125 female and 110 male) were selected using stratified random sampling. Two standard questionnaires, YANG Internet Addiction and general health scale (GHQ) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS 11.5 and t- tests. The results were considered significant at P<0.05 level. Results The results revealed 32.8% of the students were addicted to internet. The general health of internet-addicted users was at a higher risk in comparison with ordinary users (P<0.05). But there was no significant difference between physical function and social function of the two groups in general health scales. On the other hand, there were significant associations between Internet Addiction and students' education level. The place, frequency and kind of internet usage, and more internet skills were all significant (P<0.05). Conclusion According to the results, there is a need for designing and implementing educational projects which demonstrate useful and effective means to reduce internet addiction and provision of practical counseling for appropriate use of internet.