ABSTRACT
Introduction: The importance of using internet is increasing now
because it is one of the most effective tools in many fields as science,
business and education. The negative effects of social networking
locations overweigh the positive ones. There are few studies about
Facebook and Internet addiction among youth and adolescent in
Egypt.
Aim of the work: To determine prevalence, pattern of internet
utilization, and effects of internet and Facebook among students of
Benha university and to investigate the role of study nature on the use
of internet.
Subject& Methods: A comparative cross sectional study conducted in
University of Benha during 2nd term of the year of academic (2018-
2019). The study enrolled (755) students from medicine and education
faculties. A self- administered semi structured questionnaires is used
as a tool for data collection. It included some questions about sociodemographic data, internet and Facebook, physical health hazards and
Young Internet Addiction Test (YIAT).
Results: Most all students whether from faculty of medicine or
education reported “home” as the frequent place for internet (99.5%
and 97.7%) and mobile phone as the most commonly used device.
Afternoon and evening times are the preferred times to use internet
for students of both faculties (79% and 74.9%).Medical students
differed significantly regarding duration of internet use /years (57.2%
vs. 51.5% used internet for more than five years)and average daily
use(41.5 % vs. 31% use internet for about 4 to 6 hours
daily).Entertainment was the most common purpose for usage and
was significantly higher among medical students (60.8% vs.
42.5%).Students from faculty of education experienced more health
hazards than medical students due to internet and Facebook usage
and all these differences were of statistical significance. Academic
performance was the most affected from point of view of education
students (62.3% vs. 46.5%). The majority of students are potential
problematic internet users(PIUs) (70.5% for faculty of medicine vs.
63.7% for faculty of education), but actual problematic internet users
were more among students of faculty of education (13% vs. 1.5 %).
Family income and sex were significant predictors of YIAT score
among the all students.
Conclusion: Facebook and internet use affects the social life of
university students. Students from faculty of education experienced
more physical health hazards and higher percentage of PIUs. So
Health education of university students to moderate their use of
internet and social media is essential.
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