ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2014
Does walking explain associations between access to greenspace and lower mortality?
Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Green spaces and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.The Lancet. Planetary health · 2019Pooled it
- Mental health benefits of long-term exposure to residential green and blue spaces: a systematic review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2015Pooled it
- Long-term impacts of co-designed sustainable park improvements on physical activity and other wellbeing behaviours: a 7-year natural experimental study in a deprived urban area.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026Article
- How can funding for nature-based programmes impact health inequalities? A realist protocol.Systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Urban environments' impacts on aging in post-industrial cities: reviewing the pathways to healthy aging.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- The Impact of Greenspace, Walking, and Cycling on the Health of Urban Residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study of London.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- The association between urban greenspace and psychological health among young adults in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Environmental research · 2022Article
- Neighborhood environment and socioeconomic inequalities in cancer admissions: a prospective study using UK Biobank and linked hospital records.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2022Article
- Neighbourhood natural space and the narrowing of socioeconomic inequality in years of life lost: a cross-sectional ecological analysis of the Scottish Burden of Disease.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2022Article
- Physical Activity Behavior, Motivation and Active Commuting: Relationships with the Use of Green Spaces in Italy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Joint associations between neighborhood walkability, greenness, and particulate air pollution on cardiovascular mortality among adults with a history of stroke or acute myocardial infarction.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2022Article
- The role of cultural, community and natural assets in addressing societal and structural health inequalities in the UK: future research priorities.International journal for equity in health · 2021Article
- Deprivation Index and Lifestyle: Baseline Cross-Sectional Analysis of the PREDIMED-Plus Catalonia Study.Nutrients · 2021Article
- "Biophilic Cities": Quantifying the Impact of Google Street View-Derived Greenspace Exposures on Socioeconomic Factors and Self-Reported Health.Environmental science & technology · 2021Article
- Attitudes towards Green Urban Space: A Case Study of Two Italian Regions.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Neighborhood greenness and burden of non-communicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: A multi-country cross-sectional study.Environmental research · 2021Article
- A Scoping Review of the Health Benefits of Nature-Based Physical Activity.Journal of healthy eating and active living · 2021Article
- Association Between Residential Greenness, Cardiometabolic Disorders, and Cardiovascular Disease Among Adults in China.JAMA network open · 2020Article
- Screening for Park Access during a Primary Care Social Determinants Screen.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Despite emerging evidence that access to greenspace is associated with longer life expectancy, little is understood about what causal mechanisms may explain this relationship. Based on social-ecological theories of health, greenspace has multifaceted potential to influence mortality but the potential alternative mediating pathways have not been empirically tested. This study evaluates relationships between access to greenspace, walking and mortality. Firstly, we test for an association between access to greenspace and self-reported levels of walking using a survey of 165,424 adults across England collected during 2007 and 2008. Negative binomial regression multilevel models were used to examine associations between greenspace access and self reported number of days walked in the last month, in total and for recreational and health purposes, after controlling for relevant confounders. Secondly we use an area level analysis of 6781 middle super output areas across England to examine if recreational walking mediates relationships between greenspace access and reduced premature mortality from circulatory disease. Results show clear evidence of better greenspace access being associated with higher reported recreational walking. There were between 13% and 18% more days of recreational walking in the greenest quintile compared with the least green after adjustment for confounders. Tests for mediation found no evidence that recreational walking explain the associations between greenspace and mortality. Futhermore, whilst the relationship between greenspace access and walking was observed for all areas, the relationship between greenspace access and reduced mortality was only apparent in the most deprived areas. These findings indicate that the association between greenspace and mortality, if causal, may be explained by mediators other than walking, such as psychosocial factors. Future research should concentrate on understanding the causal mechanisms underlying observed associations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.