Covid19 pandemic impacted ianternet use and anxiety among general public during covid19 pandemic in Pakistan Authors Maryam Pyar Ali Lakhdir Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Malik Muhammad Hamza Khan 3rd Year MBBS Student, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Fauzia Basaria Hasnani Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Ghazal Peerwani Tabba Heart Institute, Karachi, Pakistan Muhammad Talha Nawaz 4th Year MBBS Student, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Ayesha Nasir Hameed 4th Year MBBS Student, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Meher Angez 4th Year MBBS Student, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Apsara Ali Nathwani Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan Syed Iqbal Azam Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan DOI: https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.8075 Keywords: Internet addiction, Anxiety, Pandemic, COVID-19, Low-income countries Abstract Objective: To determine the association between internet use and anxiety among people during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted across Pakistan from January 14 to February 21, 2021, which was the active phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic in Pakistan. The participants were aged at least 13 years having internet access regardless of gender or their location across Pakistan. The anonymous web-based survey was conducted using a questionnaire generated on Google Forms and disseminated through various social media platforms and WhatsApp groups. Anxiety symptoms were screened using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, while the Young Internet Addiction Test was used to evaluate symptoms of internet addiction. Data was analysed using STATA 16. Results: Of the 1,145 subjects, 686(60%) were females and 459(40%) were males. A total of 257(22.5%) participants were found to have extremely severe anxiety and internet usage pattern was significantly associated with the level of anxiety (p<0.05). Age, gender, social class and marital status were not significantly different (p>0.05), while family income and area of living were significantly different (p<0.05) in terms of anxity levels. . The odd of addictive internet use was 10.2 (95% confidence interval: 5.7-18.5) times greater in extreme anxiety individuals compared to individuals having no anxiety after controlling for other sociodemographic, health-related, behavioral and environmental factors during the pandemic. Conclusion: A significant association of anxiety was found with internet addiction during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. Key Words: Internet addiction, Anxiety, Pandemic, COVID-19, Low-income countries. Downloads Full Text Article Published 2023-12-24 How to Cite Maryam Pyar Ali Lakhdir, Khan, M. M. H., Fauzia Basaria Hasnani, Ghazal Peerwani, Muhammad Talha Nawaz, Ayesha Nasir Hameed, Meher Angez, Apsara Ali Nathwani, & Syed Iqbal Azam. (2023). Covid19 pandemic impacted ianternet use and anxiety among general public during covid19 pandemic in Pakistan. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 74(1), 99–104. https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.8075 More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX Issue Vol. 74 No. 1 (2024): JANUARY Section KAP Study License Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.