VIDEO GAMES AND COMMONLY INJURED JOINTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

M. Almaddah¹, A. Koshari¹, M. Abdul-Jabbar¹, F. Alharbi¹, H. Aljawi¹

¹King Abdulaziz University, Physical Therapy, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background: The competitive eSports interest is raising with more players considering video gaming as their main income. Despite the money and time spent on video games, little is known about the commonly injured joints and players’ average playing hours.

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the most injured joint among video gamers, also the average playing hours per week, as well as the gaming system associated with the most musculoskeletal injuries. We expect to see more injuries to hands, back, and neck, especially in PC gamers.

Methods: The study used an online-based Questionnaire distributed among the Saudi professional video game players and communities. The questionnaire investigated the current musculoskeletal injuries, physical activity levels, playing-related questions, and general health and sleeping habits.

Results: Of the collected responses, (63%) reported musculoskeletal pain. The most common pain site was the back and Hand/Wrist (35%) in each area, followed by the Neck (18%). Looking into physical activity, we found those who workout less than fifty minutes per week had an injury rate (19 out of 42) 45.5%, and those who workout more than 50 minutes per week had a rate (14 out of 26) 54%. The average playing hours per week (30 hours, minimum 10, and maximum 100). The most musculoskeletal injuries were reported mostly in PC game players (77%). We could not find any significant relationship between BMI, Sleeping habits or playing setup with the spent weekly playing hours.

Conclusions: The most musculoskeletal injuries at the Back and Hand/Wrist especially among PC players. The average playing hours (30 hours per week).

Implications: Working with eSport players, a portfolio has to be established with information about the most common injuries and work to avoid these injuries by taking rest or changing the system playing ergonomics.

Funding acknowledgements: No fund used to support this research

Keywords:
Video games
eSports
Injury prevalence

Topics:
Musculoskeletal
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
Sport & sports injuries

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: King Abdulaziz University

Committee: Faculty of Medical Rehabilitation

Ethics number: FMRS-EC2022-023