IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0103231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Health Effects of a Forest Environment on Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease and Heath-Related Quality of Life

Author

Listed:
  • Tsung-Ming Tsao
  • Ming-Jer Tsai
  • Ya-Nan Wang
  • Heng-Lun Lin
  • Chang-Fu Wu
  • Jing-Shiang Hwang
  • Sandy-HJ Hsu
  • Hsing Chao
  • Kai-Jen Chuang
  • Charles- CK Chou
  • Ta-Chen Su

Abstract

Background: Assessment of health effects of a forest environment is an important emerging area of public health and environmental sciences. Purpose: To demonstrate the long-term health effects of living in a forest environment on subclinical cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) compared with that in an urban environment. Materials and Methods: This study included the detailed health examination and questionnaire assessment of 107 forest staff members (FSM) and 114 urban staff members (USM) to investigate the long-term health effects of a forest environment. Air quality monitoring between the forest and urban environments was compared. In addition, work-related factors and HRQOL were evaluated. Results: Levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and fasting glucose in the USM group were significantly higher than those in the FSM group. Furthermore, a significantly higher intima-media thickness of the internal carotid artery was found in the USM group compared with that in the FSM group. Concentrations of air pollutants, such as NO, NO2, NOx, SO2, CO, PM2.5, and PM10 in the forest environment were significantly lower compared with those in the outdoor urban environment. Working hours were longer in the FSM group; however, the work stress evaluation as assessed by the job content questionnaire revealed no significant differences between FSM and USM. HRQOL evaluated by the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF questionnaire showed FSM had better HRQOL scores in the physical health domain. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the potential beneficial effects of forest environments on CVDs and HRQOL.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsung-Ming Tsao & Ming-Jer Tsai & Ya-Nan Wang & Heng-Lun Lin & Chang-Fu Wu & Jing-Shiang Hwang & Sandy-HJ Hsu & Hsing Chao & Kai-Jen Chuang & Charles- CK Chou & Ta-Chen Su, 2014. "The Health Effects of a Forest Environment on Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease and Heath-Related Quality of Life," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-8, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0103231
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103231
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103231
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103231&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0103231?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan D. Lopez & Colin D. Mathers & Majid Ezzati & Dean T. Jamison & Christopher J. L. Murray, 2006. "Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7039, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tsung-Ming Tsao & Jing-Shiang Hwang & Sung-Tsun Lin & Charlene Wu & Ming-Jer Tsai & Ta-Chen Su, 2022. "Forest Bathing Is Better than Walking in Urban Park: Comparison of Cardiac and Vascular Function between Urban and Forest Parks," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Anderson, Soren T. & Laxminarayan, Ramanan & Salant, Stephen W., 2012. "Diversify or focus? Spending to combat infectious diseases when budgets are tight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 658-675.
    3. Michael Grimm & Carole Treibich, 2013. "Why Do Some Bikers Wear a Helmet and Others Don't? Evidence from Delhi, India," AMSE Working Papers 1348, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France, revised 10 Oct 2013.
    4. Christopher Fitzpatrick & Katherine Floyd, 2012. "A Systematic Review of the Cost and Cost Effectiveness of Treatment for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 63-80, January.
    5. repec:hrv:hksfac:5341873 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Falk, Armin & Menrath, Ingo & Verde, Pablo Emilio & Siegrist, Johannes, 2011. "Cardiovascular Consequences of Unfair Pay," IZA Discussion Papers 5720, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. John Gibson & Steven Stillman & David McKenzie & Halahingano Rohorua, 2013. "Natural Experiment Evidence On The Effect Of Migration On Blood Pressure And Hypertension," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(6), pages 655-672, June.
    8. Eva Deuchert, 2011. "The Virgin HIV Puzzle: Can Misreporting Account for the High Proportion of HIV Cases in Self-reported Virgins?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 20(1), pages 60-89, January.
    9. Peter J. Rothe & Linda J. Carroll, 2009. "Hazards Faced by Young Designated Drivers: In-Car Risks of Driving Drunken Passengers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 6(6), pages 1-18, June.
    10. Fernando Abad-Franch & Gonçalo Ferraz & Ciro Campos & Francisco S Palomeque & Mario J Grijalva & H Marcelo Aguilar & Michael A Miles, 2010. "Modeling Disease Vector Occurrence when Detection Is Imperfect: Infestation of Amazonian Palm Trees by Triatomine Bugs at Three Spatial Scales," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(3), pages 1-11, March.
    11. Elizabeth Kristjansson & Damian K Francis & Selma Liberato & Marik Benkhalti Jandu & Vivian Welch & Malek Batal & Trish Greenhalgh & Tamara Rader & Eamonn Noonan & Beverley Shea & Laura Janzen & Georg, 2013. "PROTOCOL: Feeding Interventions for Improving the Physical and Psychosocial Health of Disadvantaged Children Aged Three Months to Five Years: Protocol for a Systematic Review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(1), pages 1-41.
    12. Stadnik SM & Saiko OV, 2020. "Neuron-Specific Enolaza as a Marker of Lesion Cerebral Tissue in Patients with Ischemic Stroke," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 31(1), pages 23816-23820, October.
    13. Pinna Pintor, Matteo & Fumagalli, Elena & Suhrcke, Marc, 2024. "The impact of health on labour market outcomes: A rapid systematic review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    14. Feyza G. Sahinyazan & Marie‐Ève Rancourt & Vedat Verter, 2021. "Food Aid Modality Selection Problem," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(4), pages 965-983, April.
    15. La Torre, Davide & Liuzzi, Danilo & Marsiglio, Simone, 2021. "Epidemics and macroeconomic outcomes: Social distancing intensity and duration," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    16. Danielle N. Medgyesi & Heather A. Holmes & Jeff E. Angermann, 2017. "Investigation of Acute Pulmonary Deficits Associated with Biomass Fuel Cookstove Emissions in Rural Bangladesh," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, June.
    17. Terje A Eikemo & Rasmus Hoffmann & Margarete C Kulik & Ivana Kulhánová & Marlen Toch-Marquardt & Gwenn Menvielle & Caspar Looman & Domantas Jasilionis & Pekka Martikainen & Olle Lundberg & Johan P Mac, 2014. "How Can Inequalities in Mortality Be Reduced? A Quantitative Analysis of 6 Risk Factors in 21 European Populations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-1, November.
    18. Pierre Kopp & Marysia Ogrodnik, 2017. "The social cost of drugs in France in 2010," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(7), pages 883-892, September.
    19. Zhiwei Xu & Perry E. Sheffield & Wenbiao Hu & Hong Su & Weiwei Yu & Xin Qi & Shilu Tong, 2012. "Climate Change and Children’s Health—A Call for Research on What Works to Protect Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-19, September.
    20. George Ploubidis & Wanjiku Mathenge & Bianca Stavola & Emily Grundy & Allen Foster & Hannah Kuper, 2013. "Socioeconomic position and later life prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and visual impairment in Nakuru, Kenya," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(1), pages 133-141, February.
    21. Nuwan Darshana Wickramasinghe & Jennifer Horton & Ishani Darshika & Kaushila Dinithi Galgamuwa & Wasantha Pradeep Ranasinghe & Thilini Chanchala Agampodi & Suneth Buddhika Agampodi, 2017. "Productivity cost due to postpartum ill health: A cross-sectional study in Sri Lanka," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-12, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0103231. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.