| Abstract [eng] |
The Aim: To determine peculiarities of computer and internet usage among 5th-12th grade students in the city of Švenčionys. Tasks: 1) To determine features of computer usage by students; 2) To determine features of internet usage by students; 3) To evaluate student opinion about the impact on health by computers and internet; 4) To evaluate the behavior of parents control to computer and internet usage by their children. Methods: The momentary prevalence study was conducted using anonymous questionnaires. The questionnaires comprised of several parts: general part, “me and computer”, and “me and internet”. 291 students of the schools in Švenčionys participated in the survey. The questionnaires were collected to a database using the program Epi_Data; its results were analyzed using statistical package SPSS 16.0. Microsoft Excel 2003 was used for graphic representation. Results: The majority of students (90,3%) assess their health as very good or good. 96,6% of students use computers. The number of girls and boys, who use the computer, is similar (98,1% and 94,6% respectively), (χ²=3,170; df=2; p=0,205). The majority of students use internet (97,6%). The majority indicate daily usage of computer (71,13%). Male students tend to use computers for longer periods on weekdays (t=3,019, df=245,068, p=0,003, CI= [0,119-0,566]), as well as weekends (t=2,402, df=260,957, p=0,017, CI [0,059-0,600]) in comparison to female students. 60,81% of participants state to very rarely or never perform relaxing eye exercises. Only 11,19% perform such exercises regularly. Female and male students perform the exercises with similar frequency (χ²=6,190; df=3; p=0,103). With respect to statistical significance, boys are more often deprived of sleep due to internet usage than girls (χ²=9,545; df =4; p=0,049). Conclusions: The majority of students use computers. 93,1% of children use computers at home, 71,13% of them do so daily. 69,1% of survey participants indicated internet as their primary purpose for computer usage. 68,4% of all students state to use computers for academic purposes. Male students tend to spend more time in front of the computers in comparison to female students, as well as older students in comparison to younger. The majority of students have appropriate workplaces designated for computer usage. 97,6% of survey participants use internet. 44,3% believe, that computer have an impact on health. There are more female with such opinion, in comparison to male, as well as more young than mature students. Only a minority do not complain of eye fatigue when are working with computers. Out of survey participants nearly a third state that their parents control the amount of time they spend in front of the computer, more so among younger students. |
