Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between internet addiction and health in dental hygiene students. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 216 dental hygiene students in Daegu from June 9 to 13, 2014. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA using SAS 9.2 program. The instruments included Korean internet addiction scale(K scale) and Korean version of the general health questionnaire. General characteristics consisted of grade, religion, residential types, economic condition, place of internet use, duration, purpose, and time of use. Physical characteristics consisted of subjective physical condition, smoking, alcohol drinking, exercise above twice per week, musculoskeletal disease, and location of physical symptoms. Psychiatric scale and 6 questions of physical characteristics were consulted by the statistician of preventive medicine department. Results: Internet users over 4 hours manifested the poor mental health, while those who uses internet under 2 hours showed good mental health(F = 1.41, p < 0.01). The students having good physical condition showed better mental health than those with poor physical condition(t = -2.81, p < 0.01). The students exercising at least twice a week showed better mental health than those who do not exercise(t = -3.10, p < 0.01). Those who having musculoskeletal symptoms showed higher index of internet addiction score than those who do not(t = 4.21, p < 0.01). Those who have no musculoskeletal symptoms tended to have better mental health than those who have musculoskeletal symptoms(t = 2.28, p < 0.05). The variables correlated to mental health were internet addiction, subjective physical condition, and exercise at least twice a week. The severity level of internet addiction leads to poor mental health(r = 0.26, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Internet addiction is closely related to mental health. So the students must know the danger of internet addiction. Proper health education is necessary for the prevention of addiction symptoms.
