Prevalence and associated factors of gaming disorder among pre-clinical students in a medical school
Project no. 20566 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2019
Summary
Background: As digital gaming becomes widespread, problematic gaming behaviors also increase. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of gaming disorder and associated factors among pre-clinical students in a medical school. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2019 at EUFM. The research population consisted of 1162 pre-clinical medical students. Gaming disorder which is dependent variable in this study was evaluated with GAS-7. Gamers who played games in the last 6 months were categorized in four groups as addicted, problem, engaged and normal. Independent variables are composed of variables related to socioeconomic characteristics, mental health status, habits, use of technology and gamer preferences. Multinominal regression analysis was used in analysis. P <0.05 was accepted as the level of significance. Results: The response rate was 88.6%. 72.9% of all participants were gamers. 69.1% of gamers were men and the average age was 20.4±1.19. The prevalence of engaged, problem and addicted gamers in all participants was 8.3%, 12.6% and 2.6%; in the gamers, it was 11.3%, 17.3% and 3.6% respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that being male was associated with being engaged gamer (OR=2.63, 95% CI[1.38–5.01]), being problem gamer (OR=2.42, 95% CI [1.25–4.69]), being addicted gamer (OR=5.95, 95% CI[1.30–27.30]). ADHD was associated with being engaged gamer (OR=2.37, 95% CI[1.31–4.27]), being problem gamer (OR=2.62, 95% CI [1.44–4.79]), being addicted gamer (OR=4.42, 95% CI[1.85–10.60]). Preferring online multiplayer games was associated with being engaged gamer (OR=2.03, 95% CI[1.12–3.70]), being problem gamer (OR=2.18, 95% CI[1.18–4.02]), being addicted gamer (OR=5.35, 95% CI [1.21–23.66]). Conclusions: This study showed that about one in every four medical students has a gaming disorder risk. The risk of gaming disorder was higher in gamers who are male, have ADHD risk and prefer online multiplayer games. Keywords: Gaming disorder, MMOG, Attention deficiency, Medical school student