Open Access, Peer-reviewed
eISSN 2093-758X
    J Korean Acad Nurs. 2016 Feb;46(1):140-148. Korean.
    Published online Feb 29, 2016.
    https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2016.46.1.140
    © 2016 Korean Society of Nursing Science
    Original Article

    The Effects of Urban Forest-walking Program on Health Promotion Behavior, Physical Health, Depression, and Quality of Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Office-workers

    Kyung-Sook Bang,1 In-sook Lee,1 Sung-Jae Kim,1 Min Kyung Song,2 and Se-Eun Park2
      • 1College of Nursing·The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
      • 2College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
    • Address reprint requests to: Song, Min Kyung. College of Nursing·Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea. Tel: +82-2-740-8467, Fax: +82-2-765-4103, Email: mk0408@snu.ac.kr
    Received June 30, 2015; Revised July 23, 2015; Accepted November 11, 2015.

    This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivs License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) If the original work is properly cited and retained without any modification or reproduction, it can be used and re-distributed in any format and medium.

    Abstract

    Purpose

    This study was performed to determine the physical and psychological effects of an urban forest-walking program for office workers. For many workers, sedentary lifestyles can lead to low levels of physical activity causing various health problems despite an increased interest in health promotion.

    Methods

    Fifty four office workers participated in this study. They were assigned to two groups (experimental group and control group) in random order and the experimental group performed 5 weeks of walking exercise based on Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills Model. The data were collected from October to November 2014. SPSS 21.0 was used for the statistical analysis.

    Results

    The results showed that the urban forest walking program had positive effects on the physical activity level (U=65.00, p <.001), health promotion behavior (t= - 2.20, p =.033), and quality of life (t= - 2.42, p =.020). However, there were no statistical differences in depression, waist size, body mass index, blood pressure, or bone density between the groups.

    Conclusion

    The current findings of the study suggest the forest-walking program may have positive effects on improving physical activity, health promotion behavior, and quality of life. The program can be used as an effective and efficient strategy for physical and psychological health promotion for office workers.

    Keywords
    Forests; Walking; Health promotion; Depression; Quality of life

    Figures

    Figure 1
    CONSORT flow diagram.

    Figure 2
    The conceptual model of the forest-walking program.

    Tables

    Table 1
    Homogeneity Test of General Characteristics and Outcome Variables in Pre-test (N=45)

    Table 2
    Comparison of Outcome Variables between Two Groups in Posttest (N=45)

    Notes

    This work was supported by SNU Brain Fusion Program of the Seoul National University in 2014.

    CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:The authors declared no conflict of interest.

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    MeSH Terms
    Health Promotion*
    Quality of Life*
    Walking*
    Adult
    Blood Pressure/physiology
    Body Mass Index
    Body Size
    Bone Density/physiology
    Cities
    Depression/pathology*
    Female
    Forests
    Humans
    Male
    Middle Aged
    Motor Activity
    Sedentary Lifestyle
    Waist Circumference
    Metrics
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