Christina Ficara - All Headline News Staff Reporter

Safura Abdool Karim interviewed 120 of her former schoolmates for a science project about whether they suffered problems after playing computer games.

Karim specified symptoms of "PlayStation Thumb" as blisters numbness and tingling, mainly in the thumb - similar to Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

Says Karim, "Although RSI is not new, in the past it occurred mainly among adults. Today computers and computer games are creating new medical problems, such as PlayStation thumb, which are becoming common in children."

South African Medical Journal's deputy editor, Professor JP van Niekerk, said Ms Karim's work would be listed on the Index Medicus, an international registry of medico-scientific articles, "so the world can see this and cite it".

The study found that 28 of the 60 boys and 17 of the 60 girls she spoke to played regularly.

Of these, eight boys and seven girls complained of symptoms such as redness, tingling and blisters.

Karim herself does not owna Playstation, reportedly claiming they are a "waste of time."