ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VIDEO GAMING, NECK PAIN, COGNITIVE FUNCTION, QUALITY OF SLEEP AND PERCEIVED STRESS IN UNIVERSITY OF SHARJAH STUDENTS

M. Alketbi¹, A.O. Al Marshada², F.S. Ebrahim³, S.S. Althabahi³, N.A. Al Hammadi³, M. Tamim³, L.M. Walton⁴, I. Mustafa³, V. Raigangar³

Background: Video games are addictive and encourage ''gamers to spend more time playing nonstop. A “gamer” is defined as an individual that engages in video games daily for extended periods of time. These long hours of gaming may contribute significantly towards stress, neck pain and postural problems, with lesser hours of sleep and reduced quality of life. Interestingly, gamers may have increased level of thinking, attention, and motivation to solve hard tasks, which may positively influence their performance at university.

Purpose: To determine the effects of video gaming on neck pain, cognitive function, quality of sleep and perceived stress in University of Sharjah students.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey included students between 18 to 26 years and was conducted in the Men and Women’s student centers, Medical and Health science cafeterias at the University of Sharjah. Convenience sampling from all student majors was used. Those with chronic diseases or congenital musculoskeletal abnormalities were excluded from the study. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics committee at the University of Sharjah and written informed consent was signed by all participants. In addition to demographic data, participants were asked to fill the Neck disability index (NDI), Perceived stress scale (PSS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality index (PSQI) and Colour-word stroop test. All these outcome measures are valid and reliable (ICC>0.07). SPSS ver. 22 was used for data analysis.

Results: 310 participants completed the questionnaires [51.4% (155) males and 48.6 % (146 females)]. 57.4% (105) of males were ''gamers'' as opposed to 42.6% (78) females. Gamers played for an average of 22 hours per week, frequently playing PlayerUnknown’s battleground’s or PUBG (51.2%) on cellphones (52%). Significant differences were noted between males and females on NDI, PSQI and PSS (p<0.05) with males reporting lower NDI, PSQI and PSS scores than females. Overall, 74.5% (225) reported moderate to severe to disabling neck pain and 94.5 % (285) reported being moderately to severely stressed. No significant difference in NDI, PSS, PSQI or colour-word stroop scores were seen between gamers and non-gamers, however gamers did have poorer sleep scores on the PSQI.

Conclusion(s): Majority of students reported moderate to severe neck pain and high stress levels with no differences between gamers and non-gamers. This might be due to spending long hours sitting while studying/ attending classes and the stress of University life. Wellness, screening and awareness campaigns for mental health and posture must form an important part of University life to address these issues, furthermore education regarding the ill effects of prolonged gaming must be circulated to all students.

Implications: Such studies help to recognize the impact of not only the use of technology for extended periods but help draw our attention to everyday stressors of University life which must be addressed to ensure well-being. It is recommended that such student data is collected yearly with individualized follow up and monitoring to design preventive strategies for these students.

Funding, acknowledgements: No funding was obtained for the study

Keywords: Videogames, Sleep, Stress

Topic: Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: University of Sharjah

Committee: University of Sharjah, Research Ethics C ommittee

Ethics number: REC-19-02-14-05-S