Internet addiction, headache, and insomnia in university students: a cross-sectional study

There is controversy about whether there is an association between headache and internet addiction. Therefore, the objective was to assess whether there is an association between the headache, insomnia, and internet addiction.

This was a cross-sectional study with 420 university students. We used a semi-structured questionnaire, Headache Impact Test, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, Insomnia Severity Index, and Internet Addiction Test.

51.4% were men, the median age was 21 (19, 23), 399 (95.0%) suffered from headaches in the last year, 265 (63.1%) had migraine, 182 (43.3%) had migraine with aura, 119 (28.3%) had episodic tension-type headache, 84 (20%) had internet addiction, and 95 (22.6%) had insomnia. Internet addiction was associated with anxiety (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.3, 4.0; p = 0.003), insomnia (OR = 3.0; 95% CI: 2.0, 4.6; p < 0.001), and migraine with aura (OR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.9; p = 0.066) (logistic regression). The severity of internet dependence is associated with the impact of headache (p = 0.047) and with the severity of insomnia (p < 0.001) (multiple linear regression).

Internet addiction was associated with anxiety, migraine with aura, and insomnia. The severity of internet addiction is associated with the severity of the headache and with the severity of insomnia.