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.
The Experimental Forest, National Taiwan University, Nantou, Taiwan;The Experimental Forest, National Taiwan University, Nantou, Taiwan;The School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan;The Experimental Forest, National Taiwan University, Nantou, Taiwan;The School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan;Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan;Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan;School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan;School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan;Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Recommended Citation:
Tsung-Ming Tsao,Ming-Jer Tsai,Ya-Nan Wang,et al. The Health Effects of a Forest Environment on Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease and Heath-Related Quality of Life[J]. PLOS ONE,2014-01-01,9(7)