Growing propensity of internet addiction among Asian college students: meta-analysis of pooled prevalence from 39 studies with over 50,000 participants.

Objectives: Rapid internet penetration and technological advancements have facilitated accessibility to internet-enabled devices globally. Since Asia lacks comprehensive data on internet addiction among college students, this review aims to estimate its pooled prevalence.

Study Design: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: Searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and MEDLINE from their inception through August 2022 using terms appropriate to internet addiction and Asian countries/territorial for publications in English peer-reviewed journals. The studies included those done on current college students and provided unambiguous indicators of the threshold of internet addiction. The pooled prevalence was calculated through a random-effects meta-analysis by RStudio software, and I statistic was used to assess heterogeneity. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist was used for quality assessment.

Results: Overall, between 2007 and 2021, 39 papers comprising 45 effect sizes and totaling 58,058 participants met the inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of internet addiction among Asian college students was 24.3% (95% confidence interval: 19.8%-29.5%, Q = 6234, df = 44, τ = 0.79, I = 99.29%), and strikingly, this percentage increased over time. A high degree of heterogeneity was seen, and no publication bias was found.

Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive review report on Asian college students, which found that one-fifth suffer from internet addiction. The findings emphasize the significance of multidisciplinary prevention and management strategies to mitigate the harmful effects of internet addiction. Further research is warranted to develop a standardized diagnostic tool for a more precise estimation of internet addiction among this population.