Relationship between loudness perception and noise indices in Valdivia, Chile

Residents perception of road traffic noise loudness in relation to the measured noise indices close to their dwellings was studied. Percentile distributions of five loudness categories as a function of the Day–Night noise index LDN were obtained. Hearing sensitivity was considered as a factor in loudness perception. In addition, the prevalence of people’s perception of traffic noise in the “Extremely Loud” loudness category was compared with percentage of people stating that they were “Highly Annoyed” by noise. It is concluded that hearing sensitivity for noise is one of the variables that explains the loudness classification difference in different LDN index ranges and that the percentages of people “Highly Annoyed” by noise are slightly higher than the percentages obtained in the “Extremely Loud” category of loudness perception.