Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Nov 9;21(11):1491. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21111491.
The physiological impact of walking in nature was quantified via continuous heart rate variability (HRV), pre- and post-walk saliva cortisol measures, and self-reported mood and mindfulness scores for N = 17 participants who walked "The Green Road" at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. For N = 15 of the participants, HRV analysis revealed two main groups: group one individuals had a 104% increase (mean) in the root mean square standard deviation (RMSSD) and a 47% increase (mean) in the standard deviation of NN values (SDNN), indicating an overall reduction in physiological stress from walking the Green Road, and group two individuals had a decrease (mean) of 42% and 31% in these respective HRV metrics, signaling an increase in physiological stresses. Post-walk self-reported scores for vigor and mood disturbance were more robust for the Green Road than for a comparable urban road corridor and showed that a higher HRV during the walk was associated with improved overall mood. Saliva cortisol was lower after taking a walk for all participants, and it showed that walking the Green Road elicited a significantly larger reduction in cortisol of 53%, on average, when compared with 37% of walking along an urban road. It was also observed that the order in which individuals walked the Green Road and urban road also impacted their cortisol responses, with those walking the urban road before the Green Road showing a substantial reduction in cortisol, suggesting a possible attenuation effect of walking the Green Road first. These findings provide quantitative data demonstrating the stress-reducing effects of being in nature, thus supporting the health benefit value of providing access to nature more broadly in many settings.
通过连续心率变异性（HRV）、步行前后唾液皮质醇测量以及 17 名参与者的自我报告的情绪和正念评分，量化了在自然环境中行走对生理的影响，这些参与者在马里兰州贝塞斯达的沃尔特·里德国家军事医疗中心的“绿道”上行走。对于 15 名参与者中的 N=15 名，HRV 分析显示出两个主要群体：第一组个体的均方根标准差（RMSSD）增加了 104%（平均值），NN 差值的标准差（SDNN）增加了 47%（平均值），这表明从走绿道中整体降低了生理压力，第二组个体的这些相应的 HRV 指标分别下降了 42%和 31%，表明生理压力增加。与可比的城市道路走廊相比，绿道后自我报告的活力和情绪困扰评分更高，并且表明行走过程中较高的 HRV 与整体情绪改善相关。所有参与者的唾液皮质醇在行走后均降低，并且表明与沿着城市道路行走相比，绿道行走平均可使皮质醇降低 53%，而沿着城市道路行走可降低 37%。还观察到个体行走绿道和城市道路的顺序也会影响他们的皮质醇反应，那些先在城市道路上行走然后在绿道上行走的个体的皮质醇明显降低，这表明首先走绿道可能会产生衰减效应。这些发现提供了定量数据，证明了置身于大自然中可以减轻压力，从而支持在许多环境中更广泛地提供接触自然的健康益处。
