Article Text
Abstract
Objectives The interest for competitive esports is growing. Little is known regarding musculoskeletal (MSK) pain among esports athletes. We aimed to investigate (1) the prevalence of MSK pain, (2) the association between MSK pain and esports-related training volume and (3) the association between MSK pain and physical activity levels.
Methods Athletes aged 15–35 years who participated in structured esports through a computer-based game were eligible for inclusion. Participant demographics, hours/week spent on esports, self-report MSK pain sites, pain frequency, sleep, care-seeking behaviour and physical activity levels were collected through online questionnaires. The primary outcome was any MSK pain in the body during the previous week.
Results Of 188 included athletes, 42.6% reported MSK pain. The most common pain site was the back (31.3%). Athletes with MSK pain participated in significantly less esports training compared with athletes without MSK pain (mean difference −5.6 hours/week; 95% CI −10.6 to −0.7, p=0.035). There was no significant difference in physical activity levels between groups (mean difference 81.1 metabolic equivalent of task-minutes/week; 95% CI −1266.9 to 1429.1, p=0.906).
Conclusion Back pain is common among esports athletes. Athletes with MSK pain participated in less esports training compared with those without pain, suggesting a potentially negative effect of pain on esports participation.
- Athlete
- Physical activity
- Sport
- Muscle damage/injuries
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Footnotes
Contributors All authors contributed to the development of the study. Data collection was conducted primarily by LL, SBN, MD and ORS with supervision from CLS. CLS and MSR undertook the analysis of data. All authors contributed to the development of the final manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Ethics approval Prior to undertaking the study, approval was sought from the local ethics committee in the Northern part of Jutland in Denmark. The community replied that no approval was necessary for the current study.
Patient and public involvement There was no public involvement in defining the study aims or selecting outcomes.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement The authors did not obtain informed consent from the included participants to share data with a third party. Therefore, data from the current study cannot be shared.
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