Trial reportInternational journal of environmental research and public health2017
A Randomized Crossover Trial on Acute Stress-Related Physiological Responses to Mountain Hiking.
Trial report in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 23 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Affective Responses in Mountain Hiking: A Randomized Controlled Trial Focusing on Differences Between Indoor and Outdoor Activity
Importance of Sock Type in the Development of Foot Lesions on Low-difficulty, Short Hikes
A Randomized Trial of High Intensity Circuit Training in Nature and Indoors to Compare Exercise Performance, Emotions, Perceived Exertion, and the Variability of Movement and Heart Rate in Recreational Exercisers.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Nature-based and technology-assisted exercise for cognitive and mobility outcomes in older adults: a systematic review of randomized trials.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Does Forest Therapy Have Physio-Psychological Benefits? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- What Activities in Forests Are Beneficial for Human Health? A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Effects of Green Exercise on Physical and Mental Wellbeing: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Exercise in a natural environment increases program compliance in people with chronic migraine: A pilot cross-over randomized trial.Journal of bodywork and movement therapies · 2024Trial
- Can natural environments enhance acute effects of rehabilitation exercise for older adults? A pilot randomized controlled trial.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2023Trial
- Effects of Acute Beta-Alanine Ingestion and Immersion-Plus-Exercise on Connectedness to Nature and Perceived Pain.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- The Impact of Green Exercise on Cardiovascular and Musculoskeletal Health in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Scoping Review.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Review
- The psychological restorative effects of green exercise: a moderated mediation model of nature relatedness and exercise behavior.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- From urban to alpine: environmental microbial transfer in urban adults - the ALM Study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- An integrative review of the physical, mental, and socioeconomic benefits of outdoor hiking.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- Effects of Alpine Natural Health Resources on Human Health and Wellbeing.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Using Heart Rate Variability Methods for Health-Related Outcomes in Outdoor Contexts: A Scoping Review of Empirical Studies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Are Long-Distance Walks Therapeutic? A Systematic Scoping Review of the Conceptualization of Long-Distance Walking and Its Relation to Mental Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Geography Matters, But… Evolving Success Factors for Nature-Oriented Health Tourism within Selected Alpine Destinations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Greenspace Interventions, Stress and Cortisol: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Acute Effects of a Single Bout of Walking on Affective Responses in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Future-Oriented Coping with Weather Stress among Mountain Hikers: Temperamental Personality Predictors and Profiles.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Viewing an alpine environment positively affects emotional analytics in patients with somatoform, depressive and anxiety disorders as well as in healthy controls.BMC psychiatry · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Green exercise, defined as physical activity in natural environments, might have positive effects on stress-related physiological measures. Little is known about the acute effects of green exercise bouts lasting longer than 60 min. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the acute effects of a three-hour green exercise intervention (mountain hiking) on stress-related physiological responses. Using a randomized crossover design, 42 healthy participants were exposed to three different conditions in a field-based experiment: outdoor mountain hiking, indoor treadmill walking, and sedentary control condition (three hours each). At baseline and at follow-up (five minutes after the condition), stress-related physiological responses (salivary cortisol, blood pressure, and heart rate variability) were measured. Salivary cortisol decreased in all conditions, but showed a larger decrease after both mountain hiking and treadmill walking compared to the sedentary control situation (partial η² = 0.10). No differences were found between mountain hiking and treadmill walking in salivary cortisol. In heart rate variability and blood pressure, changes from baseline to follow-up did not significantly differ between the three conditions. The results indicate that three hours of hiking indoors or outdoors elicits positive effects on salivary cortisol concentration. Environmental effects seem to play a minor role in salivary cortisol, blood pressure, and heart rate variability.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.