The relationship between social media addiction level and quality of life in residents working at Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Balcali Hospital

Aim: The aim of our study is to determine the level of social media addiction among residents (trainees) working at Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Balcalı Hospital and to reveal its relationship with their quality of life. Materials and Methods: Our study was carried out between December 2021 and April 2022 with volunteer residents working at Çukurova University Medical Faculty Balcalı Hospital. The universe of the research consists of 576 residents working at Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Balcalı Hospital. A total of 202 residents, 106 female and 96 male, participated in the study. The residents completed the Sociodemographic Data Collection Questionnaire, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Short Form Turkish Version (WHOQOL-BREF-TR) using the online questionnaire method. Data was analyzed with SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) 23.0 package program. Results: Of the residents, 95 (47.0%) were male and 107 (53.0%) were female. The mean age was 29.4±5.2 years (min: 24 max: 50), the mean height was 170.2±9.2 cm (min:150, max:197), the mean body weight was 70.6±14 kg (min:47, max:130), the mean Body Mass Index (BMI) was 24.2±3.6 (min:17.7, max:38.7). The mean score for Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale was 16.8. The sub-parameters of the quality of life scale were listed as 49.4±20,0 in general health, 57.8±17,8 in physical health, 52.0±16,3 in psychological health, 55.1±17,8 in social relations, and 53.5±13,8 in the environment. A significant relationship was found between the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale score and the behaviors including checking social media accounts just before going to bed, checking social media accounts as soon as waking up in the morning, and checking social media accounts even if they are very busy. A significant relationship was found between the quality of life scale and marital status, gender, household individuals, seniority/year in the profession, being on duty, frequency of physical activity, and having sleep disorders due to social media use. There was a weak negative correlation between total score for Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale and Physical health (p=0.01 r=-0.18), psychological health (p=0.002 r=-0.22), environment (p=0.02 r=-0.166) and WHOQOL (p=0.01 r=-0.187) subscale scores. Conclusion: The majority of residents use social media in their daily lives. Excessive use of social media can cause addiction-like behaviors. In our study, there was a weak negative relationship between the level of Social Media Addiction and the quality of life subscale scores. Since the worsening in the quality of life will affect the health care services provided by the residents, the best possible level of quality of life for physicians will improve the quality and quantity of health care services. Future research is needed to have a more general conclusion. It is important for family physicians to have information about the use of social media, which has increased significantly in recent years, and its consequences, to use the opportunities and the principles of family medicine discipline to provide appropriate counseling services. Keywords: Residents (Trainees), Social media, Addiction, Quality of life, Family medicine.