Playing video games increases the risk of becoming deaf. The alarm comes directly from a study carried out by the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The researchers point to the fact that the vast majority of gamers now use their headphones with the volume at maximum for several hours a day. You can read the results in the scientific journal British Medical Journal Public Health.
How many players are there in Italy? And in the world?
In In Italy there are 14.2 million players (or gamer, as they are called in jargon and also in English). They are predominantly men, 58% of the total. The numbers, although considerable, are decreasing compared to the years of the pandemic, for easily understandable reasons. Worldwide they reach a total of 3 billion.
Playing video games increases the risk of becoming deaf, but few people are aware of it
Researchers from the North American research center they analyzed data from over 50,000 people, discovering that very often the audio levels exceed the safety limits drawn up by the experts. The study highlights that it is crucial to increase awareness.
Research highlights that this danger should also be indicated in writing on the packaging of video games. Also because while almost everyone is aware of the damage to which we are exposed during concerts or for example when we go dancing in a disco, very few think that playing video games could represent a problem for the health of our ears.
Risk of hearing loss and tinnitus
Research has shown that players they often play at very high sound levels for several hours at a time. The studies analyzed by the research group are 14, coming from nine different countries. In the end there were almost 54,000 people involved.
The researchers point out that even the manufacturers of the consoles they should intervene with a system that prevents such significant sound exposure. Hearing damage can also be represented by tinnitusa particularly invasive disorder that complicates the quality of life.