Słyk Stanisław, Zarzycki Marcin, Grudzień Kacper, Majewski Gabriel, Jasny Michał, Domitrz Izabela
Department of Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, POL.
Department of Neurology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, POL.
Cureus. 2023 Nov 8;15(11):e48490. doi: 10.7759/cureus.48490. eCollection 2023 Nov.
Background The first electronic sports (esports) tournament was recorded in 1972, and since then, gaming leagues and tournaments with prizes have been established. Nowadays, the commercialization of competitive gaming may drive players to cheat their way to success and neglect their physical and mental well-being. The issue is all the more vital, as it is often overlooked by classically educated doctors, including sports medicine specialists. The aim of this study was to investigate the current situation of doping in esports and the future of anti-doping actions in this field, as well as to present a more generalised approach and to point out and discuss other possible health risks associated with the rising popularity of esports. Methods A standardised online survey was published in a social media group for Polish fans and people associated with esports. Two hundred and forty-one responses were collected and subjected to a statistical analysis. Only filled-out forms containing answers to all of the questionnaire's questions from people considering themselves regular players of either League of Legends (LoL) and/or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) were considered viable. The study group was divided into amateur and professional players. The calculation of test power was done post hoc to determine whether the data collected were of sufficient quality to be used further. The normal distribution was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Then, between-group differences comparing the data results from the questionnaire were analysed with Mann-Whitney U tests and Chi-square tests. The significance level was set at p <0.05. Then, the literature was screened for relevant articles. Results The majority of gamers (85.5%), despite most of them being amateurs, strive to achieve the best results when playing. Borderline legal substances are commonly used, including energy drinks (97.8%), coffee (81.6%), beer (29.7%), herbs (15.7%), and available medicines (15.1%), while more than half the participants have heard about situations during tournaments involving the use of substances forbidden by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In most answers, there were no significant differences between professionals and amateurs. Statistically significant differences were observed in the following areas: the usage of legal stimulants in the responders' environments; outlooks on implementing more strict anti-doping regulations; and the perceived usage of forbidden doping substances in a tournament setting. Conclusions E-competitors suffer from a plethora of both physical and mental health problems. These issues may be more prevalent than generally thought and include repetitive strain injuries, sleep disorders, anxiety, and depression. The largest esports organisations have started to implement measures to provide a holistic approach to esports healthcare; however, it remains a distant dream for most amateurs and aspiring e-athletes.
1972年有记录以来举办了首届电子竞技比赛,自那时起,带有奖金的游戏联赛和锦标赛纷纷建立。如今,电竞商业化可能促使玩家通过作弊来获取成功,而忽视自身身心健康。这个问题尤为关键,因为包括运动医学专家在内的接受传统教育的医生常常忽视它。本研究的目的是调查电子竞技中使用兴奋剂的现状以及该领域反兴奋剂行动的未来,同时提出一种更具普遍性的方法,并指出和讨论与电子竞技日益普及相关的其他可能的健康风险。
在一个面向波兰粉丝和与电子竞技相关人员的社交媒体群组中发布了一份标准化在线调查问卷。共收集到241份回复并进行统计分析。只有那些来自自认为是《英雄联盟》(LoL)和/或《反恐精英:全球攻势》(CS:GO)的常规玩家、且完整回答了问卷所有问题的填写表格才被视为有效。研究组分为业余玩家和职业玩家。事后计算检验效能以确定所收集的数据质量是否足以进一步使用。使用夏皮罗-威尔克检验评估正态分布。然后,用曼-惠特尼U检验和卡方检验分析问卷数据结果的组间差异。显著性水平设定为p <0.05。随后,筛选文献以查找相关文章。
大多数玩家(85.5%),尽管其中大多数是业余玩家,但在游戏时都力求取得最佳成绩。常用一些处于合法边缘的物质,包括能量饮料(97.8%)、咖啡(81.6%)、啤酒(29.7%)、草药(15.7%)和现成药品(15.1%),而超过半数的参与者听说过在比赛中出现使用世界反兴奋剂机构(WADA)禁止物质的情况。在大多数回答中,职业玩家和业余玩家之间没有显著差异。在以下方面观察到了统计学上的显著差异:受访者环境中合法兴奋剂的使用情况;对实施更严格反兴奋剂规定的看法;以及在比赛环境中对违禁兴奋剂物质使用情况的认知。
电子竞技选手存在大量身心健康问题。这些问题可能比普遍认为的更为普遍,包括重复性劳损、睡眠障碍、焦虑和抑郁。最大的电子竞技组织已开始采取措施,为电子竞技医疗保健提供全面方法;然而,对大多数业余玩家和有抱负的电子竞技运动员来说,这仍是一个遥不可及的梦想。