Clinical trial NCT03910517: Musculoskeletal Pain Among E-sport Athletes
Official title: Musculoskeletal Pain Among E-sport Athletes
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Musculoskeletal Pain
Keywords: Musculoskeletal Pain
Sleep
Training load
E-sport
Physical activity
Lead sponsor: University College of Northern Denmark
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2019-04-10
Enrollment: 208
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 15
Maximum age (years): 35
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: People aged 15-35 who engage in E-sport at an educational institution, a community-based team or a pro-team in Denmark.

Brief summary: Background:

Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain and injuries are common in endurance sports where athletes are required to perform at high intensity for long periods of time. In the short term, MSK pain may significantly impair the athletes' performance, which can lead to unwanted time-off from practice and competitive tournaments. Previous studies found an association between training load, MSK pain and performance. These results indicate that an athlete may experience MSK pain or get injured from both too low and to high training loads.

Electronic sports (E-sports), also known as competitive gaming, is defined by Hamari and Sjöblom as "a form of sports where the primary aspects of the sport is facilitated by electronic systems; the input of players and teams as well as the output of the E-sports system are mediated by human-computer interference".

There are only few data on MSK pain in E-sports, however a small study with 65 participants found that 41% suffered from back or neck pain and more than 1 in 3 had pain related to the wrist. E-sports athletes have to perform for an extended period of time, similar to athletes from traditional endurance sport. As such, MSK pain in E-sports may be associated with training load like it is seen in other sports. Therefore, MSK pain in E-sports could be an unrecognised issue. To provide health professionals with and optimal starting point for managing these issues, there is a need for well-conducted studies on the prevalence of MSK pain among E-sports athletes. In addition, it is highly relevant to investigate if training loads related to E-sports and physical activity levels are different among athletes with MSK pain compared to athletes without MSK pain.

Aims:

The aims of this questionnaire-based cross-sectional study are to; I) investigate the prevalence of MSK pain in E-sports athletes, II) assess if training loads among athletes with MSK pain are different from athletes without MSK pain, III) investigate if physical activity levels among athletes with MSK pain are different from athletes without MSK pain and IIII) descriptively present data on participant characteristics, sleep patterns, physical activity levels and utilization of health professionals and pain medication in the study population.

Detailed description: Data analysis:

The prevalence of MSK pain within the study population will be presented in absolute numbers and as percentage values. To investigate if E-sport related training loads differ among athletes with and without MSK pain we will use total E-sport related training load (N hours spend on structured E-sport + N hours spend on unstructured E-sport). An independent sample t-test will be applied for this comparison if data are normally distributed. To assess if physical activity levels are different among athletes with and without MSK pain we will use the responses from the IPAQ short form. For this comparison we will use an independent sample t-test or the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Participant characteristics, distribution and number of MSK pain sites, utilization of health professionals and pain medicine, physical activity levels, training loads and sleep patterns will be presented descriptively. The data will be presented with means, standard deviations and 95% confidence intervals. Non-parametric data will be presented with absolute numbers and as percentage values, medians and range.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age 15-35
* Engaged in E-sport at an educational institution, a community-based team or a pro-team.
* Participating in E-sport through a computer-based game.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Not providing written informed consent prior to enrolment.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Prevalence of pain in the body during the previous week.
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Primary pain site: questionnaire
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Other pain sites: questionnaire
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Pain frequency
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Pain intensity: numeric pain rating scale
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Pain interference
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Eye fatigue
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Training load (structured E-sport)
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Training load (unstructured E-sport)
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Physical activity levels
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Hours of sleep
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Trouble falling a sleep
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Waking up several times at night
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Trouble sleeping through the night
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Tiered in the morning.
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
Other outcomes:
measure: Use of pain medicine
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Use of pain medicine - type
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Use of pain medicine - frequency
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Reason for using pain medicine
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
measure: Health-care utilization
timeFrame: Baseline - at time of inclusion
Locations:
city: Aalborg
country: Denmark
facility: E-Sport clubs and/or team based in the community, at an educational institution or in a private organization i Denmark
Study officials:
References:
citation: Johnston R, Cahalan R, O'Keeffe M, O'Sullivan K, Comyns T. The associations between training load and baseline characteristics on musculoskeletal injury and pain in endurance sport populations: A systematic review. J Sci Med Sport. 2018 Sep;21(9):910-918. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2018.03.001. Epub 2018 Mar 14.
citation: Gabbett TJ. The training-injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder? Br J Sports Med. 2016 Mar;50(5):273-80. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095788. Epub 2016 Jan 12.
citation: Juho Hamari, Max Sjöblom, What is eSports and why do people watch it? Internet Res. 2017
citation: DiFrancisco-Donoghue J, Balentine J, Schmidt G, Zwibel H. Managing the health of the eSport athlete: an integrated health management model. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2019 Jan 10;5(1):e000467. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2018-000467. eCollection 2019.