IJERPH, Vol. 16, Pages 991: Effect of Residential Greenness and Nearby Parks on Respiratory and Allergic Diseases among Middle School Adolescents in a Chinese City

IJERPH, Vol. 16, Pages 991: Effect of Residential Greenness and Nearby Parks on Respiratory and Allergic Diseases among Middle School Adolescents in a Chinese City International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph16060991 Authors: Linyan Li Jaime E. Hart Brent A. Coull Shi-jie Cao John D. Spengler Gary Adamkiewicz Research on the health impacts of green environments has mainly been conducted in developed countries. Differences in the urban forms between China and Western countries make it essential to understand the role of greenspace in Chinese settings. From 2014 to 2015, middle school students (n = 5643) in Suzhou, China were enrolled in a study on the health effect of residential greenness. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and distance to the nearest park were calculated for each home address. Logistic regression was performed to test associations between exposure and self-reported doctor diagnoses of asthma, pneumonia, rhinitis, and eczema, adjusting for important confounders. No statistically significant associations were observed for any seasonal NDVI-based measures. However, the proximity of the participants’ residences to the closest park showed an inverse relationship to reported symptoms. The odds ratios for the furthest quartile compared to the closest quartile based on the distance to the nearest park were 0.58 (95% CI: 0.35, 0.99), 0.70 (95% CI: 0.50, 0.96), 0.92 (95% CI: 0.74, ...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research