Older Computer Gamers and Non-Gamers in the United Kingdom: Findings From the UK Biobank

Older adults are increasingly engaging in digital games, although little is known about older gamers on a large scale. This study seeks to examine the lifestyle, health, and well-being profiles of older computer gamers versus non-gamers, considering the relevance of our findings on older gamer profiles to key stereotype theories. We reported findings from the UK Biobank data with 73,359 participants aged 50 to 70. Participants were classified as non-gamers (N = 60,540; 82.53%), occasional gamers (N = 10,961; 14.94%), and frequent gamers (N = 1,858; 2.53%). Group comparison results suggested mostly negligible differences between older gamers and non-gamers in the domains of demographics, active/passive lifestyle, social engagement, sleep patterns, physical health, and psychological well-being. Small group differences were found in walking, moderate exercise, TV watching, body mass index, body fat percentage, and self-reported health. These findings help unveil the unique profile (or lack thereof) of older gamers versus non-gamers and provide insights for gerontologists and the gaming industry.