Prevalencia de adicción a redes sociales y factores asociados en estudiantes de la carrera de medicina entre el primer al quinto año de la Universidad de Cuenca en el periodo septiembre 2021 y febrero 2022

Abstract

Background: Social networks have become a very useful instrument; however, their problematic use has increased over the last few years with increasing relevance as it affects the mental health of the population. Several studies in Ecuador show the presence of addiction to social networks with variable prevalence, however most are carried out in high school students and / or adolescents, for which there are no statistics on the prevalence of addiction in university students in the city of Cuenca. Objectives: Determine the prevalence of addiction to social networks and associated factors in medical students between the first and fifth years of the University of Cuenca in the period September 2021 - February 2022. Methodology: A cross-sectional prevalence study was carried out. A data collection and tests form was applied to 283 students, these forms were integrated by sociodemographic variables, Beck II scale, Smilkstein Family APGAR scale, Rosemberg scale and the Scale of Addiction to Social Networks adapted by Escurras and Salas. A descriptive analysis and a bivariate analysis were carried out to determine the degree of association between the study variables and addiction to social networks using the Odds Ratio, with a 95% confidence interval and p value. The SPSS 23 program was used. Results: A prevalence of addictions to social networks of 13.1% was obtained and it was determined that it is closely related to the variables of depression with an OR = 2.095 and (p = 0.036), low self-esteem with OR = 2.203 (p = 0.038) and time of connection with OR = 3.052 (0.003). Conclusions: The prevalence of addiction to social networks was lower than expected, its development has a strong relationship with the presence of depression, low self-esteem and a connection time greater than 2 hours a day.