Factors Associated With Prevalence and Pattern of Social Media Addiction Among Medical Students – A Systematic Review

Background : With the advancement of technology, social media use/overuse is becoming a vital part of human life. Due to the high prevalence of social media users, researchers found that there is a risk of developing social media addiction (SMA) among medical students. Some risk factors are associated with SMA, which significantly impacts students' behaviours, habits, and, in fact, their entire lives with adverse consequences. Aim : The primary objective of this review is to investigate the factors associated with the prevalence and pattern of social media addiction among medical students. Methodology : For this systematic review, articles were searched using three databases: PubMed, MEDLINE, and Scopus. The PIO guidelines and PRISMA flow diagram were used to retrieve relevant studies. Ten studies were identified for this review, all cross-sectional. All English language studies were included with a time range of 2010-2022. The quality of studies was assessed using JBI's quality assessment tool. The data was analysed using comparative analysis. Results : A high prevalence of SMA in almost all study participants is associated with varied risk factors. However, there is a significant association between the intense use of social media and mental distress, anxiety, depression and loneliness, which are considered the primary risk factors of SMA in almost all the studies. However, age, gender, personal behaviours and habits such as the habit of chewing khat, alcohol & junk food consumption, low self-esteem, poor sleep quality and use of anti-psychotic drugs were also considered as the risk factors associated with the prevalence and pattern of social media addiction among medical students. Conclusion : Social media overuse linked to psychological problems was more prevalent among social media-addicted students. There is a significant need to make the general public well aware of this problem, and high self-awareness is required to prevent this issue. However, psychological treatments and rehabilitation centres need to be made accessible for the treatment of people with an addiction suffering from this public health issue.