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Association Between Esports Participation and Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Di Tang1,2, Jinde Liu3, Pengpeng Gou4
1The Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. dixontang@cuhk.edu.hk.
Sports Medicine - Open
|July 29, 2026
Summary
Esports players generally show similar health to non-players, but some exhibit lower depression. However, participation correlates with sedentary behavior, higher BMI, and gaming disorder risks.
Area of Science:
- Sports Science
- Digital Health
- Psychology
Background:
- Growing esports industry raises health concerns.
- Existing research lacks distinction between esports and general gaming.
- Need for clear health outcome evaluation for esports participants.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate health differences between esports participants and non-participants.
- Explore correlations between esports participation and health outcomes.
- Analyze subgroup differences based on professional status.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search across seven databases.
- Meta-analysis using mean differences (MD) and standardized mean differences (SMD).
- Fisher's Z-transformation for correlation analysis.
Main Results:
- No significant overall health differences initially found.
- Esports participants showed lower depression levels (SMD -0.13).
- Non-professional players had higher body fat (MD 4.57); participation linked to sedentary behavior, BMI, and gaming disorder.
Conclusions:
- Esports participation has a multifaceted health association.
- Findings require careful interpretation due to study heterogeneity and bias.
- Future research needs longitudinal designs and standardized metrics for causal validation.