Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36448649›Full record

ArticleInquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing

Demographic and Psychosocial Factors associated with Internet Addiction among the Pakistani Population during COVID-19: A Web-Based Survey.

Maryam Pyar Ali Lakhdir, Ayesha Nasir Hameed, Fauzia Basaria Hasnani, Meher Angez, Muhammad Talha Nawaz, Malik Muhammad Hamza Khan, Ghazal Peerwani, Apsara Ali Nathwani, Syed Iqbal Azam

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Maryam Pyar Ali LakhdirAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.ORCID 0000-0003-3053-2887
Ayesha Nasir HameedAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Fauzia Basaria HasnaniAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Meher AngezAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Muhammad Talha NawazAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Malik Muhammad Hamza KhanAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Ghazal PeerwaniAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Apsara Ali NathwaniAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.ORCID 0000-0002-2899-1577
Syed Iqbal AzamAga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Aga Khan University · PK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study aims to determine the burden of COVID19-induced internet addiction and related psychosocial factors among the Pakistani sample. A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to March 2021. An analytical cross-sectional survey was broadcast on the internet via a Google form completed by 1145 Pakistanis. Individuals aged 13 years and above with competency to comprehend English or Urdu language, currently residing in any province of Pakistan, having access to the questionnaire, and willing to participate were eligible to participate. Overseas Pakistanis were excluded from the study. The outcome is COVID19-induced internet addiction was measured using the validated tool Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT). In addition, symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and other psychosocial factors were assessed using the validated tool Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Adjusted odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval were reported using multinomial logistic regression. Most participants were females and youth (between 20 and 24 years). The prevalence of problematic internet users (PIU) and addictive internet users (AIU) was 27.3% and 11.3%, respectively. The odds of extremely severe anxiety among AIU were approximately three times (Adj OR: 2.6 (1.1-7.1), followed by the odds of having extremely severe stress being about five times higher among AIU (Adj OR: 5.4 (1.6-17.6)) as compared to normal internet users (NIU). Amid COVID-19, the burden of internet addiction has surged among the Pakistani populace. This study identified that gender, marital status, depression, stress, anxiety, work situation, and mood changes during the COVID-19 pandemic are significantly correlated with problematic and addictive internet use. Preventative measures against the addictive use of the internet are needed to avoid or mitigate any serious mental health problems.

Indexed as

COVID-19Internet Addiction DisorderAdolescentCross-Sectional StudiesDemographyFemaleHumansInternetMalePakistanPandemicsSurveys and QuestionnairesaddictionanxietyCOVID-19depressionInternetstresssurvey

Identifiers

PMID36448649
PMCPMC9716057
OpenAlexW4310704273

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.