Headphone listening has become an integral part of everyday life, spanning music consumption, communication, online media,; increasingly, computer gaming. These diverse listening contexts make individual sound exposure highly variable; difficult to quantify. While music listening ; occupational headphone use have been widely studied, sound exposure from gaming remains comparatively undocumented. This study investigated the relationship between self‑reported exposure through headphones; cochlear function assessed using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE). Forty‑one university students completed a detailed questionnaire on listening habits,; TEOAEs were recorded in both ears across five half‑octave frequency bands. Estimated weekly exposure levels were derived from participants’ reported durations ; contexts of use. TEOAE amplitude, signal‑to‑noise ratio (SNR),; reproducibility showed clear frequency‑dependent patterns; small ear asymmetries, consistent with typical OAE behaviour. Only limited associations were found between self‑reported exposure; TEOAE measures, with significant effects emerging primarily for SNR; reproducibility in the highest‑exposure group. No consistent differences were observed between long‑term gamers; non‑gamers. These findings suggest that self‑reported exposure alone may be insufficient to detect subtle cochlear changes in young adults,; underscore the need for more precise exposure‑monitoring methods when evaluating recreational sound exposure risks.
