Cristina Vert1, Mireia Gascon1, Otavio Ranzani1, Sandra Márquez1, Margarita Triguero-Mas2, Glòria Carrasco-Turigas1, Lourdes Arjona1, Sarah Koch1, Maria Llopis1, David Donaire-Gonzalez3, Lewis R Elliott4, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen5. 1. ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain. 2. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital Del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Barcelona, Spain. 3. Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Division of Environmental Epidemiology (EEPI), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. 4. European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, United Kingdom. 5. ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: mark.nieuwenhuijsen@isglobal.org.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Blue spaces may benefit mental health and promote physical activity, although the evidence is still scarce. And benefits on physical health are less consistent. The objective of this randomized crossover study was to assess psychological and cardiovascular responses to blue spaces' exposure. METHODS: A sample of 59 healthy adult office workers was randomly assigned to a different environment (i.e. blue space, urban space, and control site) on 4 days each week, for 3 weeks. For 20 min per day, they either walked along a blue or an urban space or rested at a control site. Before, during and/or after the exposure, we measured self-reported well-being and mood, blood pressure, and heart rate variability parameters. For well-being, we also assessed the duration of these potential effects over time (at least 4 h after exposure). RESULTS: We found significantly improved well-being and mood responses immediately after walking in the blue space compared with walking in the urban space or when resting in the control site. Cardiovascular responses showed increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, both during and after walking along the blue and urban spaces. However, cardiovascular responses measured after the walks, showed no statistically significant differences between the blue and the urban space environments. CONCLUSIONS: Short walks in blue spaces can benefit both well-being and mood. However, we did not observe a positive effect of blue spaces for any of the cardiovascular outcomes assessed in this study.
RCT Entities:
INTRODUCTION: Blue spaces may benefit mental health and promote physical activity, although the evidence is still scarce. And benefits on physical health are less consistent. The objective of this randomized crossover study was to assess psychological and cardiovascular responses to blue spaces' exposure. METHODS: A sample of 59 healthy adult office workers was randomly assigned to a different environment (i.e. blue space, urban space, and control site) on 4 days each week, for 3 weeks. For 20 min per day, they either walked along a blue or an urban space or rested at a control site. Before, during and/or after the exposure, we measured self-reported well-being and mood, blood pressure, and heart rate variability parameters. For well-being, we also assessed the duration of these potential effects over time (at least 4 h after exposure). RESULTS: We found significantly improved well-being and mood responses immediately after walking in the blue space compared with walking in the urban space or when resting in the control site. Cardiovascular responses showed increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, both during and after walking along the blue and urban spaces. However, cardiovascular responses measured after the walks, showed no statistically significant differences between the blue and the urban space environments. CONCLUSIONS: Short walks in blue spaces can benefit both well-being and mood. However, we did not observe a positive effect of blue spaces for any of the cardiovascular outcomes assessed in this study.
Authors: Marina Cervera; Simon Bell; Francesc Muñoz; Himansu S Mishra; Lora E Fleming; James Grellier; Glòria Carrasco-Turigas; Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen; Cristina Vert; Mireia Gascon Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-02-10 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Hiromi Suenaga; Kanako Murakami; Nozomi Murata; Syoriki Nishikawa; Masae Tsutsumi; Hiroshi Nogaki Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-12-17 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Sofia Marini; Mario Mauro; Alessia Grigoletto; Stefania Toselli; Pasqualino Maietta Latessa Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-09-30 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Michail Georgiou; Gordon Morison; Niamh Smith; Zoë Tieges; Sebastien Chastin Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-03-03 Impact factor: 3.390