ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
The acute effects of esports on heart rate variability: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Nantong Institute of Technology, Nantong, China
- 2Nantong University, Nantong, China
- 3Ningbo College of Health Sciences, Ningbo, China
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ABSTRACT Purpose The aim of this study was to apply systematic review and meta-analysis methods to analyze the acute effects of esports on heart rate variability (HRV). Methods This study systematically searched the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, covering publications up to July 20, 2025. Two reviewers independently screened the literature and extracted data, and the analyses were conducted using Review Manager 5.4. Results The results indicated that, compared with the resting state, the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) [SMD = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.10–0.38; P < 0.001] and high-frequency (HF) [SMD = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.14–0.81; P = 0.006] significantly decreased during gameplay. However, no significant differences were observed for standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN), percentage of adjacent normal-to-normal intervals differing by >50 ms (pNN50), low-frequency (LF), or the low to high frequency ratio (LF/HF). Conclusion The study suggests that, although esports is a sedentary activity, it can nevertheless elicit significant autonomic nervous responses. These findings enrich the understanding of the physiological mechanisms of esports and provide empirical support for player health management, training optimization, and psychological regulation strategies.
Keywords: acute effect, eSports, Heart rate variability, Meta-analysis, Systematic review
Received: 08 Dec 2025; Accepted: 23 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Lyu, Gu, Li and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yekui Luo
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