Smoking and internet addiction prevalence of Atatürk University students and evaluation of the relationship between these adddicts

Smoking And Internet Addiction Prevalence of Atatürk University Students and Evaluation of the Relationship Between These Adddicts Objective: In this study, it was aimed to determine the smoking and internet dependency ratios of the students at Ataturk University, to investigate whether there is a relationship between these addicts and to draw the attention of students and health workers to these subjects. Method: The study was conducted among 1816 university students in the Yakutiye Campus of Ataturk University between October 2016 and January 2017. The participants in the survey were interview form, Young Internet Addiction Scale, Fagerström Nicotine Dependency Test. The demographic data of the students and the results of the questionnaires were studied statistically. Descriptive statistics were presented as mean, percent and standard deviation. Pearson Chi-square test was applied in the analysis of the data. Statistical significance level was accepted as p <0,05. Findings: The mean age of the students who participated in the study was 21.4 ± 2.5 years. The lowest student age was 18 and the highest student age was 35. In our study, participants' scores on the Fagerström Nicotine Dependence Test ranged from 1.18 to 2.27, while the score on the Internet Addiction Scale ranged from 40.30 to 14.95. In our study group, the rate of addictiontosmokingwas27.7% and the rate of internet addiction was 4.4%. Smoking and internet addiction was more common in males than females. Students with Internet addiction and risky internet use were found to be more prone to smoking. When the dependency ratios of students who were addicted to smoking increased according to FNBT results, it was seen that internet addiction rates also increased. Conclusion: According to findings of our study, smoking dependence and internet addiction are common problems among university students. It has also been found that risky internet use and Internet addiction are associated with smoking. Smoking addiction has been one of the biggest health problems for years; internet addiction is a problem that has just been defined yet and its importance is increasing. Increasing the level of knowledge of health workers about these addictions will be useful for diagnosis and treatment in order to be able to evaluate people who are at risk for addiction (anamnesis, scale, etc.) and to direct them to appropriate clinics if necessary. Key Words: Tobacco addiction, internet addiction, university students