15 Apr Research Transparency: Injury Prevalence in Esports
As esports medicine and performance research continues to expand, it’s important for organizations and individuals within the industry to share their knowledge and experience. Our practice should be evidence-informed, but our evidence must also be clinically-informed. With the aim of providing data from our experience as clinicians, we’ve historically done an end-of-year post with an overview of our interventions. We’d now like to take that one step further and share the more in-depth data from each year, starting from 2021. As the years go on, this post will be updated with new data, in hopes that it will be useful for ongoing research.
This data is explicitly limited to injuries diagnosed and treated by 1HP clinicians in a population of esports competitors ranging in age from 16-30. It does not take into account any of our injury prevention, fitness, nutrition, psychology, or other interventions.
Researchers are also welcome to contact us directly for additional data or for further questions using the contact form on our site.
2022 Data
| Injury Type | Incidence |
| Hand, Wrist, and Elbow | |
| ECRB/ECRL Tendinopathy | 6 |
| ECU Tendinopathy | 33 |
| FCU Tendinopathy | 22 |
| FCR Tendinopathy | 3 |
| FDS/FDP Tendinopathy | 22 |
| APL / EPB / EPL Tendinopathy | 14 |
| ED Tendinopathy | 44 |
| Thenar muscle strain | 12 |
| Adductor digiti minimi Strain | 2 |
| Interphalangeal joint irritation | 2 |
| Flexor pollicis longus strain | 3 |
| Median neuropathy | 5 |
| Radial neuropathy | 4 |
| Ulnar neuropathy | 9 |
| Extensor Indicis strain | 2 |
| Extensor Digit minimi tendinopathy | 2 |
| Extensor digitorum muscle strain | 4 |
| Olecranon fracture | 1 |
| Cubital Tunnel Syndrome | 3 |
| DeQuervain’s Tenosynovitis | 4 |
| Scaphoid fracture | 1 |
| Shoulder | |
| Upper Trapezius / Levator Strain | 16 |
| Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy | 5 |
| Biceps long head tendinopathy | 5 |
| Subacromial Impingement Syndrome | 5 |
| Costovertebral Joint Irritation | 4 |
| Neck and Back | |
| Thoracic Outlet Syndrome | 14 |
| Cervicogenic Headaches | 18 |
| Cervical Facet Irritation | 8 |
| Thoracic Facet Irritation | 3 |
| Lumbar Facet irritation | 9 |
| Lower Extremity | |
| Patellar tendinopathy | 4 |
| Hip flexor strain | 4 |
| Medial meniscus tear | 1 |
| ACL tear | 1 |
2021 Data
| Injury Type | Incidence |
| Hand, Wrist, and Elbow | |
| ECRB/ECRL Tendinopathy | 0 |
| ECU Tendinopathy | 13 |
| FCU Tendinopathy | 9 |
| FCR Tendinopathy | 3 |
| FDS/FDP Tendinopathy | 31 |
| APL / EPB / EPL Tendinopathy | 32 |
| ED Tendinopathy | 32 |
| Thenar Muscle Strain | 14 |
| Hypothenar Muscle Strain | 2 |
| Adductor digiti minimi Strain | 2 |
| Radiocarpal joint Irritation | 1 |
| Metacarpal phalangeal joint irritation | 2 |
| Median neuropathy | 2 |
| Radial neuropathy | 3 |
| Ulnar neuropathy | 6 |
| Wartenburg Syndrome | 2 |
| Distal biceps tendinopathy | 1 |
| Interphalangeal joint irritation | 3 |
| Shoulder | |
| Upper Trapezius / Levator Strain | 15 |
| Rotator Cuff Irritation (Infra) | 6 |
| LH Biceps Tend | 4 |
| Costotransverse jt irritation | 2 |
| Pec muscle tightness | 6 |
| Neck and Back | |
| Lumbar Postural Syndrome | 3 |
| Thoracic Outlet Syndrome | 15 |
| Cervicogenic Headaches | 8 |
| Cervical Facet Irritation | 8 |
| Thoracic Facet Irritation | 5 |
| Lumbar Facet irritation | 15 |
| TMJ Dysfunction | 1 |
| Lower Extremity | |
| Patellar tendinopathy | 10 |
| Femoroacetabular impingement | 2 |
| Hamstring strain | 1 |
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