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Associations Between Esports Participation and Health: A Scoping Review

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Abstract

Esports are a contemporary phenomenon, with millions of people involved. Still, scientific literature on the topic is scarce. Anecdotal reports, mostly based on what is known from videogames practice, have associated esports with unhealthy lifestyles and health-related problems. The present scoping review aimed to provide an overview of findings from studies regarding the health and well-being in adult esports players, while identifying the most studied topics in the field and those still lacking scientific research.

The search was conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, B-on, and ESCBO databases. Studies regarding health consequences of esports practice conducted with adult esports players were included. No exclusion criteria concerning age, sex, esports modality, or esports level were applied, but articles related to other forms of video gaming or gambling were excluded. The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles. Opinion and review articles were excluded.

There were 1416 articles retrieved from which 33 met the inclusion criteria. Lifestyle habits, sleep, exercise and physical health (including musculoskeletal health), physiological demands, and mental health were the main topics of investigation. Several gaps in the literature were identified, namely studies on cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic health, or consuming-related risks. Also, the lack of homogeneous methodologies and definitions used in esports-related studies was identified.

Esports practice has been associated with different health-related symptoms, but more studies using more robust methodologies and appropriate research design are needed. Topics such as cardiovascular health or the use of performance-enhancing drugs are lacking.

Plain Language Summary

Anecdotal reports have associated esports with unhealthy lifestyles and health-related problems. Still, scientific literature about esports is scarce. The current scoping review aimed to better understand health and well-being in esports players, while identifying the topics most studied in the field and those which might still be lacking scientific knowledge.

Lifestyle habits, sleep characteristics, exercise and physical health, including musculoskeletal health, physiological demands, and mental health were the main topics approached within the 33 articles included in the present scoping review. Several gaps in the literature were identified, namely studies on cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic health, or consuming-related risks. Also, the lack of homogeneous methodologies and definitions used in the esports scene was identified.

Esports practice has been associated with different health-related symptoms, but studies on esports using robust methodologies and appropriate research design are needed. Studies on topics such as cardiovascular health or the use of performance-enhancing drugs are lacking.

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Acknowledgements

This scoping review will contribute towards a PhD award for AMP. The authors acknowledge Patrícia Martins, from the Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, for advice and support on accessing the databases used in the current scoping review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Portugal Football School, Portuguese Football Federation, Oeiras, Portugal

    Ana Monteiro Pereira, Júlio A. Costa, Pedro Figueiredo & João Brito

  2. Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, CIDESD, University of Maia, ISMAI, Maia, Portugal

    Ana Monteiro Pereira

  3. Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Evert Verhagen

  4. Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, CIDESD, Vila Real, Portugal

    Pedro Figueiredo

  5. CIDEFES, Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Figueiredo

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Correspondence to Ana Monteiro Pereira.

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No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this article.

Conflicts of interest

Ana Monteiro Pereira, Júlio Costa, Evert Verhagen, Pedro Figueiredo, and João Brito declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.

Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author contributions

JB proposed the review. JB and AMP identified the methods and identified the framework for the review. AMP proposed the search strategy. All authors contributed to the development of the research questions and the study design. AMP and JAC performed data extraction and data analysis. AMP developed the first and subsequent drafts of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Monteiro Pereira, A., Costa, J.A., Verhagen, E. et al. Associations Between Esports Participation and Health: A Scoping Review. Sports Med 52, 2039–2060 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01684-1

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