More than one in eight U.S. adults finds it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time and about one in 11 tries to hide his or her online habit, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The study by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California found one in 8 adults admitted they needed to spend less time online, saying this showed “problematic Internet use” is present in a sizable portion of the population.

“We often focus on how wonderful the Internet is — how simple and efficient it can make things,” said Elias Aboujaoude, the study’s lead author, in a statement.

“But we need to consider the fact that it creates real problems for a subset of people.”

The study involved a nationwide telephone survey of 2,581 respondents in the spring and summer of 2004 with researchers then examining the data and preparing the report which appears in the October issue of CNS Spectrums.

Tags: Internet Addicts, Internet Survey