Cardiac and pulmonary benefits of forest walking versus city walking in elderly women: A randomised, controlled, open-label trial

Abstract

IntroductionInterest increases in the role of the natural environment providing health benefits. This study compared forest and city walking on arterial stiffness and pulmonary function. MethodsA single-centre, parallel, randomised, and controlled, open-label trial was conducted. Seventy women >60 years were recruited into the study. The forest-walking group walked around a forested area for 1h. The city-walking group walked around an urban area for 1h. Blood pressure, arterial stiffness (CAVI), and pulmonary function (FEV1, FEV6) were assessed before and 30min after the walking activity. ResultsOf the 70 women randomly assigned to the forest walking (n=50) or city walking (n=20) groups. Eight participants were excluded from analysis due to early dropout leaving43 participants in the forest-walking group and 19 in the city-walking group. One hour of forest walking significantly improved CAVI (p<0.01), FEV1 (p<0.01) and FEV6 (p<0.01). No significant change was observed in the city-walking group. There were significant differences in changes of CAVI (p<0.01), FEV1 (p=0.02), and FEV6 (p=0.04), between the city-walking and the forest-walking groups. No significant side effects were reported. ConclusionOur results showed that forest walking improved arterial stiffness and pulmonary function in 61 elderly Korean women. Further large scale and long-term studies are needed to better understand the clinical significance of these findings. Clinical trial registered with www.cris.org (KCT0000631).