Shoot-em-ups pose deafness risk to young video gamers

CHILDREN who play shooter video games for an hour a day could be at risk of irreversible hearing loss, a study has found.

The first comprehensive analysis of the impact of video games on hearing, by the BMJ Public Health journal, found that gamers were regularly near or exceeding “permissible” hearing levels.

Researchers said adults and children “listening at high-intensity sound levels and for long periods of time may be at risk of permanent sound-induced hearing loss and/or tinnitus”. However, children may be particularly at risk because the recommended safe listening guidelines for them are lower than for adults.

Experts from the University of South Carolina and the World Health Organization (WHO) reviewed the data of more than 53,000 gamers from 14 separate global studies. People tend to play for longer periods of at least one hour at a time, with the average individual playing for three hours a week, exposing them to loud noises for long stints, researchers said. The effect of “impulse sounds” – bursts of loud noise above background sound that last for less than a second, such as shooting noises – was also a concern, they said. Previous studies have estimated as many as three billion people globally play video games.

According to WHO guidelines, children can listen at volume levels of 75 decibels for 40 hours a week, which correlates to safe listening levels of 83 db for about 6.5 hours, 86 db for around 3.25 hours, 92 db for 45 minutes and 98 db for 12 minutes a week.

Impulse sounds were found to reach levels as high as 119 db, with peak sound pressure levels of 117.3 db, 118.7 db, 116.5 db and 113.4 db for shooter games.