Video Games and the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Young Adults

While video games are gaining popularity across the world, musculoskeletal disorders are simultaneously becoming a major health issue for young adults. This study investigates the effect of video games on the musculoskeletal system's health within the upper body region in young adults. Using convenience sampling, 114 subjects were divided into two groups and interviewed: gamers (experimental) and non-gamers (control). A 14-item questionnaire was used, including questions about the duration of gaming, type of gaming console, and presence of musculoskeletal pain/discomfort. Both gamers and non-gamers self-reported moderate to severe discomfort in different upper body parts; mainly in the lower back (30%), upper back and neck (23%), and wrist (20%). However, the most significant difference (
$p < 0.05$
) between gamers and non-gamers was in the lower arm with 18%, 3%, respectively. Furthermore, 41% of the gamers and only 21% of the non-gamers (
$p < 0.05$
) were professionally diagnosed, with muscle sprain as the most common diagnosis. The use of specialized gaming consoles such as PlayStation/Xbox/Joystick is associated with the minimum incidence of pain within gamers, in comparison with PC-Keyboard or Mobile Phone/iPad users. Gamers reported higher incidence of pain in different upper body parts in comparison with non-gamers and this was related to the gaming console. Further investigation on a larger sample size, with medical diagnoses instead of self-reported discomfort/pain is necessary to enable generalizing the results and better understanding the reasons behind them.