Hydration status of esports players in a live competition

Abstract

Objectives. - Esports are an increasingly popular activity that involves professional players. Dehydration hinders cognitive performance, on which these competitors rely heavily. This observational study assessed the hydration state of esports players on a competition day and its possible associations with esports and lifestyle-related features. Methods. - The hydration status of esports players was assessed on a tournament day through urine-specific gravity and by comparison with the Armstrong urine color chart. Binary logistic regression and univariate analysis of variance were applied to assess the relationships between urine-specific gravity and age, BMI, hours of sleep per day, hours of video game play per day, esports title, physical activity level, and professionalism level. Results. - Ninety-eight esports players participated in this study. The average urine-specific gravity, assessed through refractometry, was 1.020 (SD = 0.007) g/cm(3). 10.2% were classified as well hydrated, 25.5% with minimal dehydration, 60.2% with significant dehydration, and 4.1% with serious dehydration. Considering the eight-color urine chart method, 16.3% were classified with minimal dehydration, 65.3% with significant dehydration, and 18.4% as serious dehydration. There were no significant associations between hydration status and lifestyle-related variables (P > 0.05). The results of the two methods of assessing hydration status presented a positive, moderate, and statistically significant correlation (r = 0.711, P < 0.001). The agreement between the two classifications was 56.1%, with Cohen's kappa showing a weak agreement (k = 0.213, P < 0.001) even if with linear (k = 0.330, P < 0.001) or quadratic (k = 0.471, P < 0.001) weighting. (c) 2024 L'Auteur(s). Publie par Elsevier Masson SAS.