PREVALENCE OF INTERNET USAGE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AT TAIBAH UNIVERSITY AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, MADINAH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA, 2015.

Nisreen Albouq*, Bushra Hafiz, Ahmed Qasem and Yousef Ekhmimi

ABSTRACT

Background: Internet is one of the strong revolutions we are facing, it gives us really fascinating benefits and advantages as easy information gathering and good communication abilities. Although there are many benefits associated with the use of Internet, there has been a deep concern regarding the risk associated with using it. Aim: To determine the relationship between internet usage and academic performance (GPA) among medical students at Taibah University. Methodology: This cross sectional study was carried out at Taibah University, Madinah, KSA, among the students of the College of Medicine ، who included male and female students from 2th, 3 th, 4th and 5 th year ,during May 2015 to November 2015. A total of 240 study participants were selected by using simple random sampling. Of those selected, 193 participated and completed the questionnaire .The data was collected by using a pre-tested, electronic, semi- structured questionnaire and the data analysis was done by using SPSS, version 20. Results: Out 193 medical students, 107 (55.4%) were female and 86 (44.6%) were male. The mean age of the students was 22.58 years. 100% (193) study subjects were using internet. Out of 193 respondents we found that (67.4%) male students are using the internet to keep in touch while (65.4%) female students are using the internet for studying. Conclusion: All medical students are using internet and it was mainly for studying purpose. There is no significant relationship between the GPA and internet usage.

Keywords: Internet, medical students, academic performance.