Association between Urban Greenness and Depressive Symptoms: Evaluation of Greenness Using Various Indicators

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 2; p. 173
• Main Authors: Song, Hyeonjin, Lane, Kevin James, Kim, Honghyok, Kim, Hyomi, Byun, Garam, Le, Minh, Choi, Yongsoo, Park, Chan Ryul, Lee, Jong-Tae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09.01.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Aeronautics; Agricultural economics; Air pollution; Armed forces; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Body weight; Cities; Depression - epidemiology; Environment; Family income; Female; Fisheries; Forests; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Mental health care; Middle Aged; Military; Noise pollution; Outdoor air quality; Physical activity; Plants; Pollution control; Population; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Signs and symptoms; Smoking; Social factors; Studies; Suicide; Suicides & suicide attempts; Underweight; Urban Health; Vegetation; Republic of Korea; United States > US; South Korea; urban greenness; logistic regression; Normalized Difference Vegetation Index; depressive symptoms
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16020173

An increasing number of studies have suggested benefits of greenness exposure on mental health. We examined the association between urban greenness and depressive symptoms in adults in the general population living in the seven major cities in Korea ( = 65,128). Using data from the Korean Community Health Survey 2009, depressive symptoms were measured on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Greenness was assessed using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and land-use data (forest area and forest volume). Logistic regression models were fitted to adjust for potential confounders. Individuals in regions with the highest NDVI (quartile 4) had the lowest odds for depressive symptoms compared to quartile 1, after adjusting for potential confounders (OR = 0.813; 95% CI: 0.747, 0.884). For all greenness indicators except for forest area per district area (%), the highest rate of depressive symptoms was found for the individuals in the lowest quartile of greenness (quartile 1) and the lowest rate of depressive symptoms for those in the highest quartile of greenness (quartile 4). We found an inverse association between urban greenness and depressive symptoms, which was consistent across a variety of greenness indicators. Our study suggests health benefits of greenness and could provide a scientific basis for policy making and urban planning.