South African teen Safura Abdool Karim has become the youngest person ever to be published in the country’s main medical publication, at 13 years of age. Karim conducted a study into a condition she has called “PlayStation Thumb”.
Initially, the study was for a school science project. Karim question 120 of her schoolmates – 60 boys and 60 girls – on whether they suffered problems after playing games. 8 boys and 7 girls reported redness, blisters and tingling of the thumb.
Karim writes in her report that it is similar to RSI: “Although RSI is not new, in the past it occurred mainly among adults. …Computer games are creating new medical problems, such as PlayStation thumb, which are becoming common in children."
