THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Background: Social media usage has become widespread among medical undergraduates. Although it provides opportunities for communication and academic collaboration, excessive use may adversely affect academic performance. Objective: To determine the association between duration of social media usage and academic performance among medical undergraduate students and to assess the correlation between social media addiction scores and academic achievement. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 427 medical undergraduate students. Data were collected using a validated Social Media Addiction Scale and a structured questionnaire assessing daily social media usage. Academic performance was measured using university examination percentage marks. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, “Fisher’s exact test (Monte Carlo simulation)”, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: Of the 427 participants, 199 (46.6%) were male and 228 (53.4%) were female. The mean university examination percentage was 63.37 ± 6.40. A statistically significant association was observed between duration of social media usage and academic performance (χ² = 16.23, df = 8, p = 0.041). No significant association was found between gender and academic performance (χ² = 0.431, df = 2, p = 0.806). Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed no significant relationship between daily social media usage and university examination percentage (r = −0.04, p > 0.05), whereas a significant positive correlation was found between daily usage and social media addiction score (r = 0.31, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Increased duration of social media usage is associated with poorer academic performance. Higher daily usage significantly correlates with greater social media addiction. Responsible and moderated social media use should be encouraged among medical students.