Online Gaming Addiction Among UiTM Puncak Alam Pharmacy Students Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Stress among the university students had been triggered by the long-haul social distancing during the pandemic. Many had turned to playing video games more than usual as a social lifeline that could be potentially addictive. This study aims to evaluate the level of video gaming addiction during COVID-19 pandemic particularly among the UiTM Puncak Alam students. A cross-sectional study design with self-administered online survey was used to achieve the targeted objectives. The survey included several sections such as frequency of playing video games and 7-Item Game Addiction Scale (GAS). More than half of the cohort were females (60%) with average age of 23.46 ± 3.64 years. The findings showed that on average, these video gamers played approximately 2.33 ± 1.83 hours daily or 3.82 ± 2.04 days weekly. This study revealed that the prevalence of pathological and excessive gamers was low among the pharmacy students even during the pandemic restriction.