Newswise — Playing with a video game console is associated with increased pain in young children, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa.
Game consoles, such as Xbox, Play Station, and Wii, as well as handheld devices such as Play Station Portable, iTouch and iPhone are used by many children. Researchers—including an 11 year old student who was curious about his and his young friend’s joint pain—recently set out to determine if there is an association between these games and devices and wrist and finger pain in young children.
"One day, I was squeezing orange juice when my thumb started hurting, and I asked my dad if I was going to get arthritis or tendinitis and which causes more pain: i Touch or Game Boy," explains Deniz C. Ince, the student who initiated the study and the son of a rheumatologist. "He replied, 'honestly, I don't know.' After this I wanted to find out if my friends were experiencing similar pain."
With the help of a rheumatology research team, Ince began his study. The researchers administered questionnaires to children ages seven to 12 years old who attended Rossman Elementary School in St. Louis, Mo. The questions were geared to help the researchers examine the possible association of the type of game device, age of the children and hours played would have with pain severity.
Of the 171 children who participated—of which, 54.4 percent were female with an average age of 9.3 years old—49.1 percent reported using these games and devices zero to one hour per day; 33.9 percent reported one to two hours per day; seven percent reported two to three hours per day; and 6.4 percent reported over three hours per day
Researchers were able to determine that increased pain was more likely among younger participants, with seven year-olds reporting the most pain. Additionally, researchers noted that playing a Wii exclusively resulted in more self-reported pain (regardless of age and hours of play) among participants. Further, nearly 12 percent of children responding reported finger pain and nearly 10 percent reported wrist pain that limited the amount of time they were able to play video games.
“My original goal was to prove that the new game systems don’t cause any problem or pain because they are mostly tilt, not press, but my study showed otherwise. I hope my friends won’t be too mad at me,” says Ince.
The researchers note that these findings might suggest that there be a minimum age for children to start using these games and devices, and back up other theories that time spent using them should be limited in children.
“Our study suggests that a significant portion of children playing with game consoles experience hand and wrist pain, which may not be recognized,” explains Yusuf Yazici, MD; assistant professor, department of rheumatology, New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, N.Y., and lead investigator in the study. “Our data suggesting young children experiencing more pain is also concerning and maybe some guidance as to when young children should start playing with such game consoles needs to be considered.”
What has this taught Ince? “The study thought me that I should have not started playing video games before the age of seven, I shouldn't play more than one hour a day, and—most importantly—that in any research, your hypothesis may not always be correct!”
The ACR is an organization of and for physicians, health professionals, and scientists that advances rheumatology through programs of education, research, advocacy and practice support that foster excellence in the care of people with or at risk for arthritis and rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. For more information on the ACR’s annual meeting, see www.rheumatology.org/annual.
Editor’s Notes: Dr. Yazici will present this research during the ACR Annual Scientific Meeting at the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 5:00 PM on Monday, October 19 in Room 203 B.
Presentation Number: 1234
Wrist Pain in 7-12 Year Olds Playing with Game Consoles/Handhelds: Younger Children Have More Pain, Independent From Time Spent Playing
Deniz C. Ince , Rossman Elemantary School, St Louis, MO C.J. Swearingen, PhD , Biostatistics UAMS Pediatrics, Little Rock, AR Yusuf Yazici, M.D. , NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, NY
Purpose: Game consoles such as Xbox, PS3 and Wii, in addition to handheld unit PSP, iTouch and iPhone are used by many children. Data regarding wrist and finger pain that may be caused by excessive use of these devices do not exist, especially in young children. We examined the possible association device type, age of children and hours played may have with wrist and finger pain.
Method: 7-12 year olds attending Rossman Elemantary School in St Louis, MO, were administered a questionnaire asking about game consoles and hand-held devices used, hours played, and wrist or finger pain as reported on a 10cm VAS. Summary statistics of playing habits, devices played and pain levels were estimated. Multivariable generalized linear models associating consoles played, age and hours played to pain were constructed using standard backward selection techniques, determining the most significant independent predictors for pain.
Results: 171 children completed the survey (mean age 9.7 years, 93 were female (54.4%). 84 (49.1%) reported 0-1 hours of play a day, 58 (33.9%) 1-2 hours, 12 (7%) 2-3 hours and 11 (6.4%) over 3 hours. 20 (11.7%) children reported finger pain and 17 (9.9%) reported wrist pain limiting their playing time. The mean (SD) pain level was 0.83 (1.82). Among the consoles Wii was the most commonly used (n=77, 45%), followed by Xbox/PS3 (n=9, 5.3%). 28 (16.4%) children played with none and 57 (33.3%) played both. For handhelds, Gameboy/PSP were played by 103 (60.2%) and iTouch/iPhone by 10 (5.8%). 39 (22.8%) played both and 19 (11.1%) played with neither. In beta regression, increasing age was independently associated with decreased odds of reporting pain (OR=0.65 (95% CI 0.57 – 0.75)); increasing hours played was associated with increased odds of reporting pain (OR=1.52 (95% CI 1.16-2.00)). Playing the Wii only was also independently associated with increased odds of reporting pain (OR=2.39 (95% CI 1.81-3.73)). In logistic regression, age was the only significant predictor of wrist pain (OR=0.68 (95% CI 0.48-0.96).No significant predictor of finger pain was observed.
Conclusion: In children aged 7-12, 80% of which played with a console or handheld, younger age was associated with more wrist pain. Wii use was associated with more self-reported pain independent of age and hours played. Seven year olds reported the most pain as compared the other age groups. These findings may have implications for which age children should start playing with gaming consoles and handheld devices and possibly some limits in the hours they play.
Disclosure: D. C. Ince, None; C. J. Swearingen, None; Y. Yazici, BMS, Roche, UCB, Centocor, Celgene, 5 .
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