As the 28th national hearing day, which is held this IFOP study this Thursday, March 13, reveals that 50 % of people entertaining with video games suffer from auditory discomfort after a session with sound.
- In France, one person playing in two video games is the victim of hearing problems following a session with sound.
- Among them, 31 % suffer regularly or from time to time.
- The most affected practitioners are those who play more than two hours per session, those whose average volume exceeds the recommended thresholds and those whose maximum volume exceeds 7 out of 10.
38 million. This is the number of French people who engage in video games. “It was natural to question the existence of experiences of hearing disorders”, said the National Association of Hearing. For the first time, she thus asked IFOP to look at hearing risks linked to video games, practiced with family, alone or online, which affect all ages and all social conditions. As part ofAn unprecedented studythe Institute questioned a sample of 1,003 people, representative of the French population aged 15 and over, from January 30 to February 6, 2025.
Video games: hearing problems observed in one in two practitioners
According to data, hearing health issues moderately worry the respondents, because they fail to establish the link between video games and the consequences on hearing. As proof: although 79 % of French people meet auditory discomfort situations, including 26 % regularly, only 39 % of players say they are concerned about their hearing health. “Players with sound are not aware of being directly concerned: only 17 % believe that their personal practice has a risk for their hearing.” On the other hand, 88 % and 77 % of adults surveyed more readily recognize that the nightclub outings and in concert represent a danger to their ears.
One player in two hearing gene victim after a session
While most players underestimate the auditory repercussions related to video games, 50 % have already been the victim of auditory discomfort following a game session with sound, including 31 % regularly or from time to time. The most affected patients are those who play more than two hours per session, those whose average volume exceeds the recommended thresholds and those whose maximum volume exceeds 7 out of 10.
In detail, almost a practitioner playing with the active audio out of five claims to experiment at least from time to time the feeling that his ears are blocked (19 %), difficulties in hearing weak sounds (17 %). “19 % of respondents suffered from hyperacusia, a phenomenon that affects the youngest more. (…) Finally, 18 % say they have experienced at least from time to time, 12 % a temporary hearing loss.”
Prevention action must be integrated from an early age
Among players, prevention efforts are provided, but they are still too limited. Faced with these results, the National Association of Hearing stresses that awareness of hearing risks linked to video games must be made from an early age, more precisely before 15 years, in order to stop the “Ototoxic behavior.” “For such an action to exist, it would be a question that the public authorities take the full measure of the existence of hearing disorders in the entire population and not only among the elderly. In the absence of health monitoring, the data of deafness declared distort the indicators allowing an informed decision -making”, she concluded.
