Internet Use Impact on Physical Health during COVID-19 Lockdown in Bangladesh: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Tanvir Abir, Uchechukwu Levi Osuagwu, Dewan Muhammad Nur-A Yazdani, Abdullah Al Mamun, Kaniz Kakon, Anas A. Salamah, Noor Raihani Zainol, Mansura Khanam and Kingsley Emwinyore Agho
Additional contact information
Tanvir Abir: School of Business, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka 1208, Bangladesh
Uchechukwu Levi Osuagwu: Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia
Dewan Muhammad Nur-A Yazdani: Research Associate, Creative Research & Consultancy, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh
Abdullah Al Mamun: Faculty of Business and Management, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Kaniz Kakon: Department of Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences—CAAS, International University of Business Agriculture and Technology—IUBAT University, Dhaka 1230, Bangladesh
Anas A. Salamah: Department of Management Information Systems, College of Business Administration, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, 165, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia
Noor Raihani Zainol: Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Kota Bharu 16100, Malaysia
Mansura Khanam: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (Icddrb), GPO BOX 128, 68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Kingsley Emwinyore Agho: Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-11

Abstract: Previous studies on internet use frequency were focused on mental health impact, with little known about the impact on physical health during the COVID-19 lockdown. This study examined the impact of internet use frequency on self-reported physical health during the COVID-19 lockdown in Bangladesh. A web-based cross-sectional study on 3242 individuals was conducted from 2 August–1 October 2020. The survey covered demographics, internet use frequency and self-reported physical health questions. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the impact of internet use frequency on physical health. 72.5%, 69.9%, 65.1% and 55.3% respondents reported headache, back pain, numbness of the fingers and neck pain, respectively. The analyses showed increased physical health impact among regular (coefficient ? = 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.18–0.85, p = 0.003), frequent (? = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.88–1.54, p < 0.001) and intense (? = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.91–2.57, p < 0.001) internet users. Other important predictors were gender, income, occupation, regions, and working status. Frequent and extensive uses of the internet were strong predictors of physical health problems, and our findings suggest the need for increased awareness about the physical health problems that can be triggered by excessive internet usage.

Keywords: internet; coronavirus; lockdown; headache; back pain; neck pain; physical health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10728/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10728/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10728-:d:655606

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().