An Australian study of video-gamers found 46.1% of its 955 participants complained of eye fatigue, the second most commonly reported physical ailment after back or neck pain (52.1%).
Researchers led by Associate Professor Janni Leung, National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland, reported 80% of surveyed individuals aged 18-94 played games daily. Overall, 16.2% reported daily gaming sessions of more than three hours, with 9% playing for more than six hours a day. However, the results for frequency of playing six or more hours in one session were largely consistent with those of the three-hour-or-more analyses, said authors. “This may suggest that the threshold for negative physical outcomes may be sufficiently reached at 3h or more of continuous play.” These physical effects also appeared to affect all demographics surveyed, including casual and aspiring professional gamers.
Using the Internet Gaming Disorder Test-10 (IGDT-10), researchers reported 17.9% of participants qualified for having a gaming disorder, as defined by the World Health Organization.
