Investigation of the Effect of Internet Addiction Level in University Students

The internet, which has become a part of our daily life; serves many purposes such as quick access to information, e-mail, and chat, banking and shopping, having a good time, using social networking sites. Internet addiction, which was first defined by Ivan Goldberg in 1996, is defined as the inability to control internet use, which causes pressure, feelings of anxiety, and dysfunctional behaviors in daily life activities. Social media, digital games and smartphone addiction are among the addiction types whose active ingredient is the internet, and internet addiction is expressed as a whole, regardless of the type of addictive application or activity. Considering that internet use is common among young people, one of the risk groups in terms of internet addiction is university students. As a matter of fact, Günay et al. stated that approximately 8% of university students are at risk of internet addiction.

In the literature, musculoskeletal problems and pain in the thumb and related joints, reduction in pinch strength, and hand function have been reported with smartphone use. In addition, a significant relationship was found between the time spent surfing the Internet and pain at the base of the thumb. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has been found that examines the effect of internet addiction level on thumb pain threshold, hand strength and manual dexterity in university students. The aim of our research is to determine the level of internet addiction in university students and to examine the effect of internet addiction level on thumb pressure pain threshold, hand strength and manual dexterity.