Findings from a systemic review of available evidence have indicated that regular exposure to video games at high-intensity sound levels for several hours, may lead to irreversible hearing loss.
The researchers of study which involved more than 50,000 participants from 9 countries, found that sound levels in video gamers are often near, or exceed permissible safe limits for the gamers.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines permissible exposure limits to be around 100 dB for children and 130 to140 dB for adults.
Published in the journal BMJ Public Health, the investigation outcomes called for greater public health efforts in raising awareness of the potential risks of video games, given the degree of their popularity.
According to the scientists “while headphones, earbuds, and music venues have been recognised as sources of potentially unsafe sound levels, relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of video games, including e-sports, on hearing loss, say the researchers”.
The review, consisting of 14 peer reviewed studies from 9 countries in North America, Europe, South East Asia, Asia and Australasia, and involving a total of 53,833 people, had eleven epidemiological observational studies, 6 of which looked at the associations between hearing and computer or video games; 4 focused on gaming centres or personal computer rooms, which are popular in Asia; and 1 focused on mobile devices.
According to the authors , “Reported sound levels ranged from 43.2 decibels (dB) (mobile devices) up to 80-89 dB (gaming centres) while length of noise exposure varied by mode and frequency of access–from daily to once a month, for at least an hour at a time, averaging 3 hours/week.
“The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, describes a time–intensity trade-off, known as an exchange rate, for permissible levels and duration of exposure, explain the researchers.
“For example, a permissible noise exposure level of 80 dB for 40 hours a week with a 3 dB exchange rate means the permissible exposure time halves with every 3 dB increase in noise level: at 83 dB it’s 20 hours; at 86 dB it’s 10 hours; at 92 dB it’s 2.5 hours; and at 98 dB it’s 38 minutes.
“For children, the permissible noise exposure level is defined as 75 dB for 40 hours a week. Children can therefore safely listen to an 83 dB sound for around 6.5 hours, 86 dB for around 3.25 hours, 92 dB for 45 minutes, and 98 dB for only 12 minutes a week, explain the researchers”.
While the researchers affirmed that the daily level of sound exposure from these video games is close to maximum permissible levels of sound exposure, it was suggested that this findings need to be brought to the front burner, for increased public enlightenment on the potential dangers of video games to adults and children.
