The health benefits of the great outdoors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes

Summary & key facts

This review combined 143 studies (103 observational and 40 intervention) that looked at about 100 health outcomes to see how contact with greenspace relates to health. Overall, more greenspace exposure was linked with lower stress markers, lower heart rate and some lower blood pressure, and with lower risks for outcomes like preterm birth, type 2 diabetes, and death from any cause. Many individual studies showed health-related benefits, but the authors say some pooled results are limited by low study quality and high differences between studies, so the evidence is not equally strong for every outcome.

Key facts:

• The review included 143 studies in total: 103 observational studies and 40 interventional studies, covering about 100 different health outcomes.
• In meta-analyses, increased greenspace exposure was associated with a small decrease in salivary cortisol: −0.05 (95% CI −0.07 to −0.04).
• Meta-analysis found lower heart rate with more greenspace exposure: −2.57 (95% CI −4.30 to −0.83).
• Diastolic blood pressure was lower in pooled results: −1.97 (95% CI −3.45 to −0.19).
• Higher greenspace exposure was associated with lower risk of preterm birth (pooled estimate 0.87, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.94).
• The pooled estimate for type II diabetes showed lower incidence with more greenspace: 0.72 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.85).
• All-cause mortality was lower in pooled results for greater greenspace exposure: 0.69 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.87).
• People reporting good self-rated health were more common with greater greenspace exposure (pooled estimate 1.12, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.19).
• For several outcomes that were not pooled, between 66.7% and 100% of studies reported health-related associations with increased greenspace exposure, including some neurological, cancer-related, and respiratory mortality outcomes.
• The authors caution that several meta-analyses were limited by poor study quality and high heterogeneity, meaning the strength and certainty of some findings are limited.

Abstract

Greenspace exposure is associated with numerous health benefits in intervention and observational studies. These results are indicative of a beneficial influence of greenspace on a wide range of health outcomes. However several meta-analyses results are limited by poor study quality and high levels …

Topics

Noise Effects and Management Urban Green Space and Health Urban Heat Island Mitigation

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Environmental Science Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis Physical Sciences

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Environmental health Environmental planning Environmental science Health benefits Health impact assessment Health risk Internal medicine Medicine Meta-analysis Nursing Public health Traditional medicine