Prevalence of internet addiction among college students in the Indian setting: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The internet is an integral part of everyone’s life. College going adolescents are highly vulnerable to the misuse of the internet. AIMS: To estimate the pooled prevalence of internet addiction (IA) among college students in India. METHODS: Literature databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Google Scholar) were searched for studies assessing IA using the Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT) among adolescents from India, published in the English language up to December 2020. We included studies from 2010 to 2020 as this is the marked era of momentum in wireless internet connectivity in India. The methodological quality of each study was scored, and data were extracted from the published reports. Pooled prevalence was estimated using the fixed-effects model. Publication bias was evaluated using Egger’s test and visual inspection of the symmetry in funnel plots. RESULTS: Fifty studies conducted in 19 states of India estimated the prevalence of IA and the overall prevalence of IA as 19.9% (95% CI: 19.3% to 20.5%) and 40.7% (95% CI: 38.7% to 42.8%) based on the Y-IAT cut-off scores of 50 and 40, respectively. The estimated prevalence of severe IA was significantly higher in the Y-IAT cut-off points of 70 than 80 (12.7% (95% CI: 11.2% to 14.3%) vs 4.6% (95% CI: 4.1% to 5.2%)). The sampling method and quality of included studies had a significant effect on the estimation of prevalence in which studies using non-probability sampling and low risk of bias (total quality score ≥7) reported lower prevalence. The overall quality of evidence was rated as ‘moderate’ based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Our nationally representative data suggest that about 20% to 40% of college students in India are at risk for IA. There is a need for further research in the reconsideration of Y-IAT cut-off points among Indian college students. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020219511.