Frequent visits to green spaces such as parks and community gardens are associated with a reduced use of certain prescription medications among city dwellers, a new analysis suggests.
In a cross-sectional cohort study, frequent green space visits were associated with less frequent use of psychotropic, antihypertensive, and asthma medications in urban environments.
Viewing green or so called “blue” spaces (views of lakes, rivers, or other water views) from the home was not associated with reduced medication use.
Dr Anu Turunen
The growing scientific evidence supporting the health benefits of nature exposure is likely to increase the availability of high-quality green spaces in urban environments, and promote the use of these spaces, lead author Anu W. Turunen, PhD, from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland, told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology.
This might be one way to improve health and well-being among city dwellers, Turunen added.
The findings were published online January 16 in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Nature Exposure a Timely Topic
Exposure to natural environments is thought to be beneficial for human health, but the evidence is inconsistent, Turunen said.
“The potential health benefits of nature exposure is a very timely topic in environmental epidemiology. Scientific evidence indicates that residential exposure to greenery and water bodies might be beneficial, especially for mental, cardiovascular, and respiratory health, but the findings are partly inconsistent and thus, more detailed information is needed,” she said.
In the current cross-sectional study, the investigators surveyed 16,000 residents of three urban areas in Finland — Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa — over the period of 12 months from 2015 to 2016, about their exposure to green and blue spaces.
Of this number, 43% responded, resulting in 7321 participants.
In the questionnaire, green areas were defined as forests, parks, fields, meadows, boglands, and rocks, as well as any playgrounds or playing fields within those areas, and blue areas were defined as sea, lakes, and rivers.
Residents were asked about their use of anxiolytics, hypnotics, antidepressants, antihypertensives, and asthma medication within the past 7 to 52 weeks.
They were also asked if they had any green and blue views from any of the windows of their home, and if so, how often did they look out of those windows, selecting “seldom” to “often.”
They were also asked about how much time they spent outdoors in green spaces during the months of May and September. If so, did they spend any of that time exercising? Options ranged from never to 5 or more times a week.
In addition, amounts of residential green and blue spaces located within a 1 km radius of the respondents’ homes were assessed from land use and land cover data.
Covariates included health behaviors, outdoor air pollution and noise, and socioeconomic status, including household income and educational attainment.
Results showed that the presence of green and blue spaces at home, and the amount of time spent viewing them, had no association with the use of the prescribed medicines.
However, greater frequency of green space visits was associated with lower odds of using the medications surveyed.
For psychotropic medications, the odds ratios (ORs) were 0.67 (95% CI, 0.55 – 0.82) for 3-4 times per week and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.63 – 0.96) for 5 or more times per week.
For antihypertensive meds, the ORs were 0.64 (95% CI, 0.52 – 0.78) for 3-4 times per week, and 0.59 (95% CI, 0.48 – 0.74) for 5 or more times per week.
For asthma medications, the ORs were 0.74 (95% CI, 0.58 – 0.94) for 3-4 times per week, and 0.76 (95% CI, 0.59 – 0.99) for 5 or more times per week.
The observed associations were attenuated by body mass index.
“We observed that those who reported visiting green spaces often had a slightly lower BMI than those who visited green spaces less often,” Turunen said. However, no consistent interactions with socioeconomic status indicators were observed.
“We are hoping to see new results from different countries and different settings,” she noted. “Longitudinal studies, especially, are needed. In epidemiology, a large body of consistent evidence is needed to draw strong conclusions and to make recommendations.”
Evidence Mounts on the Benefits of Nature
There is growing evidence that exposure to nature could benefit human health, especially mental and cardiovascular health, says Jochem Klompmaker, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of environmental health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Klompmaker has researched the association between exposure to green spaces and health outcomes related to neurological diseases.
Dr Jochem Klompmaker
In a study recently published in JAMA Network Open, and reported by Medscape Medical News, Klompmaker and his team found that among a large cohort of about 6.7 million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries in the US age 65 or older, living in areas rich with greenery, parks, and waterways was associated with fewer hospitalizations for certain neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and related dementias (ADRD).
Commenting on the current study, Klompmaker noted its strengths.
“A particular strength of this study is that they used data about the amount of green and blue spaces around the residential addresses of the participants, data about green space visit frequency, and data about green and blue views from home. Most other studies only have data about the amount of green and blue spaces in general,” he said.
“The strong protective associations of frequency of green space visits make sense to me and indicate the importance of one’s actual nature exposure,” he added. “Like the results of our study, these results provide clinicians with more evidence of the importance of being close to nature and of encouraging patients to take more walks. If they live near a park, that could be a good place to be more physically active and reduce stress levels.”
The study was supported by the Academy of Finland and the Ministry of the Environment. Turunen and Klompmaker report no relevant financial relationships.
Occup Environ Med. Published online January 16, 2023. Full text
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