Associations Between Esports Participation and Health: A Scoping Review

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.