In 2022, 6.8% of the Swiss population used the internet in a problematic way. This figure is significantly higher than in 2017 (3.8%). The proportion doubled in every age group up to 54. There was no clear increase for the older population. Problematic Internet use is much more widespread among the younger generations than among the older ones.
This indicator is part of the Monitoring System Addiction and NCD (MonAM) of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
With the widespread use of the internet and social media, new forms of addiction have developed, such as internet use that is problematic for health.
In terms of the Addiction Strategy, special attention is paid to internet use, because it is important to be able to respond flexibly to new dangers with appropriate preventative and therapeutic measures.
This indicator was calculated on the basis of data from the Swiss Health Survey (SHS, n2022 ≈ 22 000) and is updated every five years.
It shows the share of persons aged 15 and older, living in private households and with problematic internet use. Participants were first asked the following question: "Do you use the internet in your free time or for private purposes? By internet, we mean going online to surf, check email, chat or play (network) games, on a computer, smartphone, tablet or iPad".
Those who answered 'yes' to this question were then asked to indicate the extent to which the following eight items from the short version of the CIUS (Compulsive Internet Use Scale; Gmel et al. 2019) concerned them, using the ratings never, rarely, sometimes, often and very often:
Federal Office of Public Health FOPH
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