. Sandeep Lahiry; . Shouvik Choudhury; . Suparna Chatterjee; . Avijit Hazra
Volume 9, Issue 4 , April 2019, , Pages 1-6
Abstract
CONTEXT: There is limited evidence on the influence of social media among medical students.AIMS: To assess the pattern of social media usage among medical students in eastern part of ...
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CONTEXT: There is limited evidence on the influence of social media among medical students.AIMS: To assess the pattern of social media usage among medical students in eastern part of Indiaand analyze self‑perceived impact on academic performance and interpersonal relations.Methods: This cross‑sectional study was based on an online survey, taken by 650 medical studentsat a tertiary medical center in Kolkata. The survey was created using an online tool, Google Forms.It assessed social media usage patterns and students’ perspective on how it affects their academicperformance and interpersonal relations.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to quantify theassociation between self‑rated academic performance and social and physical well‑being, withdifferent variables, assuming linear relationships. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant.RESULTS: The usable responder rate was 55.23%, with majority being undergraduates (57.3%) in theage group of 18–24years. The proportion who confirmed using social media was 88.58%(95% confidenceinterval [CI]: 85.29%–91.87%), mainly for academic purposes (82.73%; 95% CI: 78.82%–86.64%). Ingeneral, social media usage was more prevalent among medical students compared to paramedicaland nursing students (P = 0.009), although the extent of use for an academic purpose was comparable.Nearly two‑thirds (60.87%) regarded social networking having a positive (improved) impact on academicperformance. However, the perceived impact on interpersonal relations was inconclusive (i.e., waspositive and negative in a nearly equal measure; 45% each).CONCLUSIONS: Social media usage for academic purposes is high among medical and paramedicalstudents. Students benefit from social networking and are conscious of its positive as well as negativeinfluence on interpersonal relations.
