Video games noise exposure in teenagers and young adults

Abstract

Many teenagers’ free time is almost entirely devoted to video games. Unlike reality, in the virtual environment, adolescents feel themselves as protagonists by interacting with people and objects that are very far from the current living environments. Several authors in the literature have highlighted the risks associated with an intensive use of these technologies and the negative consequences for health. To make the gaming experience as exciting as possible, these applications are equipped with sound environments that stimulate attention and aggression. This study describes the noise exposure measurement activities for video game users. The damage caused by noise depends on both the acoustic power and the exposure time. For this reason, different noise exposure scenarios produced by video games have been simulated. The results show that the daily levels of exposure to noise are close to the limits imposed by the legislation. A game exceeds the lower exposure limit for two different time exposures. In the case of 4 h of exposure, the lower exposure limit is exceeded, although the other 4 h of rest have been passed in an environment with low background noise (46.0 dBA). The results suggest limiting the set sound level appropriately and to reduce users’ exposure times.