EVALUATION OF FREQUENCY-WEIGHTED SOUND LEVEL MEASUREMENTS FOR PREDICTION OF LOW-FREQUENCY NOISE ANNOYANCE

The objective was to evaluate different frequency weightings for predi ction of rated annoyance. In Study 1, cluster analysis was used to sel ect two groups, which were exposed to low and high frequency noise, re spectively. This was done to maximise the possibility of differentiati ng between frequency weightings. Correlations were calculated between rated annoyance and the different frequency-weighted values. Correlati ons did not indicate that dB(A) was inferior to any other frequency-we ighted sound level as a predictor of annoyance. In Study 2, multiple a nd logistic regression analyses, using L-Aeq and the dB(C)-dB(A) diffe rence as independent variables, and annoyance as dependent variable, w ere carried out in a group of 709 persons. The proportion of explained annoyance variance was increased by 1.4% when the dB(C)-dB(A) differe nce was added to the analysis. Also a further 2.4% of the annoyed pers ons were identified by adding the difference in the logistic regressio n. The dB(C)-dB(A) difference thus may make a significant, although sm all, contribution to the explanation of differences in annoyance ratin gs. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.