Video Gamers Believe That Hearing Loss Would
Significantly Reduce Their Quality of Life
Poll Results Will Inform Development of New
Global Safety Standard
ROCKVILLE, Md., July 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 75% of video gamers in
the United States, Japan, and Brazil say they regularly engage in activities
that can be detrimental to their hearing, according to a poll that
is a collaboration of the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association (ASHA); the World Health Organization (WHO)/Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO); and the WHO Collaborating
Center for Rehabilitation in Global Health Systems at the
University of Lucerne.
Many video gamers engage in habits that
could damage their hearing.
Overall, video gamers spend an average of 15 hours playing per
week. Many engage in habits that could damage their hearing, both
during gameplay and while participating in other activities.
Specifically, 43% use headphones for long periods of time, and
nearly 30% do so at loud volumes. Other activities that put them at
risk for hearing loss from excessive noise exposure include
spending time around loud music; attending concerts, sporting
events, and other large gatherings; and working in noisy
environments.
Commissioned by ASHA and conducted by YouGov in April,
respondents included nearly 1,700 video gamers ages 18–35. This
report covers the poll findings and compares them by country.
According to video gameplay industry sources, about two-thirds of
the U.S. population plays video games. In Japan, nearly 60% of the population does; in
Brazil, about 50%.
Hearing Health Among Video Gamers
Just over one third of the polled participants said they have
hearing difficulties. The leading problems are having trouble
hearing in loud environments, and experiencing ringing, buzzing, or
hissing in the ears (called tinnitus). Of this group, 25%
feel that their video gameplay habits contribute to their problems
hearing.
Additionally, most video gamers said their hearing is excellent
(65%), and nearly half don't think they risk their hearing when
they play (47%). However, a recent WHO study concluded that
hundreds of millions of video gamers globally are at potential risk
of hearing damage—a finding that prompted the global health agency
to call for implementing safe listening features and guidelines in
video gaming and esport devices. Most video gamers polled
(68%) said they would likely change their listening habits
once informed of the potential risks of video gameplay.
Cautionary and promising is how ASHA President Tena McNamara, AuD, CCC-A/SLP, described the
poll results. "Many people tend to minimize risks to their hearing
and their hearing difficulties," McNamara said. "Their hearing may
seem fine to them, but that can be deceiving because hearing loss
often develops gradually until it becomes a significant problem. If
you are exposed regularly to loud sounds and are not adequately
protected, hearing loss is likely."
McNamara encouraged people who play video games regularly to get
comprehensive hearing evaluations from an audiologist or other
hearing specialist in their country. By a wide margin, video gamers
indicated that they would be most likely to take hearing protection
advice from such specialists. McNamara also noted: "It bodes well
that most gamers (85%) said they take hearing protection steps and
are open to having safe listening features and guidance on video
gameplay devices."
Safe Listening Features
Among the poll questions were ones meant to assess video gamers'
receptivity to various safety features. Most of the gamers reported
that they were willing to use any of the proposed features,
although some differences emerged among the countries involved.
Some of the features raised in the poll included:
Volume Channel Controls: These controls
provide players with the ability to adjust volume levels of various
soundtrack items, including master game volume level, game dialogue
level, sound effects level, music level, and voice chat level. This
was one of the top safety choices among gamers overall: 86% said
they were very or somewhat likely to use them.
Smart Listening Mode: This simplified mode, when
selected, would enable sub-features designed to optimize listening
safety. This was another top feature, with 79% of all gamers
indicating they would be likely to use it.
Tinnitus Sound Removal: This feature would remove
in-game sounds that simulate a ringing or buzzing sound associated
with hearing damage. Overall, 78% of gamers said they would likely
use this feature.
Headphone Safety Mode: This mode would
automatically reduce the volume to improve safety when using
headphones (either in-the-ear or over-the-ear products). Across
countries, 77% of video gamers said they would be willing to use
this mode.
The poll asked for an ideal time for displaying warning messages
about the risk of hearing damage that wouldn't significantly
disrupt gameplay immersion. Thirty eight percent of the players
polled said that the ideal time for warning messages would be when
a game is loaded, followed by when a game is paused or when there
is a reasonable break (i.e., between rounds).
"We thank the video gamers for their poll participation," said
Dr. Shelly Chadha, Technical Lead
for Ear and Hearing Care at WHO. "They provided information that
will help inform our development of safe listening measures for
video gaming." Chadha said WHO is on track to produce a global safe
listening standard for video gameplay within 1 year.
Further Information
ASHA public page: https://www.asha.org/public
WHO Make Listening Safe Campaign:
https://www.who.int/activities/making-listening-safe
Polling Methodology
All figures, unless otherwise
stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,678 gamers
ages 18–35 in the United States
(n = 506), Brazil (n
= 524) and Japan (n = 648).
Fieldwork was undertaken April 1–15, 2024. The survey was carried
out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative
of gamers ages 18–35. Each country was weighted to represent one
third of the total.
About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
(ASHA)
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and
credentialing association for 234,000 members and affiliates who
are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language,
and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology
assistants; and students. Audiologists specialize in
preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as
providing audiologic treatment, including hearing aids.
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) identify, assess, and
treat speech, language, and swallowing disorders. www.asha.org
WHO Make Listening Safe Campaign
The World
Health Organization's (WHO) Make Listening Safe initiative,
launched in 2015, addresses the global risk of incurring hearing
damage from unsafe recreational listening. The initiative focuses
on creating evidence-based standards, raising awareness, and
investing in research to ensure that everyone can enjoy audio
without endangering their hearing.
About YouGov
YouGov is a global provider of analysis
and data generated by research in more than 40 markets. As
online market research pioneers, YouGov's data consistently
outperform others on accuracy, as concluded by Pew Research.
YouGov's custom research specialists conduct a full spectrum of
quantitative and qualitative research, providing comprehensive
market intelligence to the world's leading businesses and
institutions. www.yougov.com
CONTACT:
Joseph Cerquone
703-973-7744
jcerquone@asha.org
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SOURCE American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)