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Most of the participants (80%) played games daily, with a significant portion engaging in prolonged sessions weekly or daily. Specifically, 27.5% played for three or more hours per session weekly, while 16.2% did so daily. For sessions lasting six or more hours, 19.2% engaged weekly, and 9% daily. In addition, 17.9% of participants were classified with an internet gaming disorder over the past year, and 21.7% aspired to become professional players.
A significant proportion of participants reported physical problems directly attributed to their gaming habits. Eye fatigue was reported by 46.1% of participants, hand or wrist pain by 45.4%, and back or neck pain by 52.1%. These issues were not confined to a specific age group or gender.
The researchers found a dose-response relationship between the frequency of prolonged gaming sessions and the likelihood of reporting physical symptoms. Specifically, individuals who more often engaged in gaming sessions lasting three hours or more exhibited a higher propensity to report physical problems.
“The main takeaway is that three hours of continuous video game playing may be enough to increase someone’s risk of experiencing symptoms of physical harm,” Stjepanović told PsyPost. “This could be back pain, eye strain, hand or wrist pain or other physical conditions. The effect of video game play on physical harm is an area that hasn’t received much research attention, so we didn’t know what to expect going into this study. It was surprising to us that we saw the increased risk of harm at just three hours of continuous play.”
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