The Mental and Physical Health of the Sri Lankan Professional Esports players

Abstract

Esports are the organized, multi-player video games that can be played individually or as teams and with rapidly growing demand around the world. Professional Esports players spend at least 12-14 hours per day on Esports related games. Sitting in front of a screen for long periods can adversely affect their physical and mental health. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine the mental health and physical activity level (PAL) of Sri Lankan professional male Esports players. The cross-sectional study was implemented under the quantitative research method. The WHO self-reporting questionnaire 20 (SRQ-20) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ) were used to collect the data from 216 professional male Esports players (age: 12 to 45 years). Associations were measured and tested using the chi-squared test, and binary logistic regression with a 95% confidence level was used to identify the risk factor for the Common Mental Disorders (CMD). The game type (Multiplayer online battle arena, fighting, tactical shooting, and sports games; p=0.001) and PAL (p=0.007) is associated with mental health. In contrast, mental health is not associated with age, higher education qualifications and job status (p>0.05). In a tactical shooting, Esports players were 3.82 (95% CI; 0.9118, 16.0230) times more likely to be suspicious for CMD than Esports players who play the sports game. In terms of the PAL, player’s likelihood of being suspected for CMD occurrence is 1.63 (95% CI; 0.6793, 3.8976) times higher for the inactive player compared to the minimally active player. Furthermore, with each passing year of playing age, the likelihood of an Esports player being suspected of having CMD increases by 0.89 (95% CI; 0.8304, 0.9535) times. This study concludes that Esports has an impact on the level of mental health and physical activity of the participants. It can be suggested that players can minimize the risk of CMD and improve their lives if they follow a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise.