Skip to main content

Egamers-800x300.png

Technology consulting firm Activate estimates that more than 250 million people worldwide watch electronic sports or professional gaming, and most of them also play. Over the last decade, esports has become a billion-dollar industry, and personalities such as Kuro Takhasomi, Damon "Karma" Barlow, and Tyler "Ninja" Blevins have become as popular in their sport as are LeBron James and Tiger Woods in theirs.

As in any sport, players get injured. A study published in 2019, based on anonymous electronic surveys sent to 65 collegiate esports players from nine universities across the United States and Canada, found that players practiced between three and 10 hours per day. The most frequently reported complaint was eye fatigue (56%), followed by neck and back pain (42%), wrist pain (36%), and hand pain (32%). Forty percent of players did not participate in any other form of physical exercise. Among the players surveyed, only 2% had sought medical attention, according to a 2019 study by Donoghue DiFrancisco and colleagues that was published in the British Medical Journal.

Log in or create a free account to keep reading.


Join APTA to get unlimited access to content.


You Might Also Like...

News

2025 APTA House of Delegates Motions Posted

Jun 3, 2025

APTA members can now access 48 motions that include seven proposed bylaws amendments that will be forwarded for consideration by the 2025 APTA House of

Perspective

Cancer Rehabilitation Month Champions Healing Beyond Treatment

Jun 2, 2025

Members of APTA Oncology share information and resources about Cancer Rehabilitation Month, a new public awareness campaign.

Feature

Short-Handed: Workforce Projections Predict Profession Shortages

Jun 1, 2025

A new APTA report outlines forecasts of a supply shortage of physical therapists through 2037.