ASHA–WHO Poll: Video Gamers Risk Hearing Loss—But Say Yes to Safe Listening Features

July 17, 2024

(Rockville, MD) 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.

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 [PDF] 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.

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