Lancet Public Health published a study recently. It finds that a group of researchers estimated the prevalence of any gambling activity, specific gambling activities, risk gambling, and problematic gaming among adults and adolescents worldwide.
By 2025, the global gambling industry is projected to reach a yield of $531 billion. This underscores gambling as a public health issue.
Since 1977, it has been defined as a disorder in the ICD or International Classification of Diseases, and in the DSM-III or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and Mental Disorders, third edition. Gambling disorder involves determined behaviors causing noteworthy distress or impairment.
The harms include physical, financial, relational, employment, psychological, and educational impacts.
Past reviews on gambling problem prevalence vary by region. They also have not fully explored the spectrum of gambling risks or overall prevalence across activities. In order to understand the diverse behaviors an risks associated with gambling, more research is needed.
In today’s study, searches were performed on June 21, 2021, and updated on March 4, 2024. It uses Excerpta Medica Database or Embase, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online or MEDLINE, and Psychological Information Database or PsycInfo databases, together with grey literature sources.
Quantitative studies published since 2010 were entitled if they reported commonness estimates of gambling, risk gambling, or problematic gambling.
Researchers excluded non-original research, case-control studies, clinical trials, and studies with fewer than 40 participants. They screened studies for inclusion and extracted data into a Microsoft Access database, which they checked for accuracy.
Researchers used the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist to assess the risk of bias. They did not conduct publication bias testing. In pooled analyses using STATA 18, they included only representative studies reporting past 12-month gambling behaviors..
For any risk gambling, gambling, and problematic gambling by country, with global and regional estimates also calculated random effects meta-analyses estimated prevalence and 95% CIs.
