ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Measuring Nature Contact: A Narrative Review.
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 4 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Green spaces, blue spaces and human health: an updated umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Nature-Based Early Childhood Education and Children's Social, Emotional and Cognitive Development: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Green Space Quality and Health: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- A process evaluation of a randomized-controlled trial of community gardening to improve health behaviors and reduce stress and anxiety.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Nature Exposure and Problematic Smartphone Use Among Chinese High School Students: The Mediating Roles of Anxiety and Self-Control.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Expert perspectives on exposure-response functions for urban health policy: Lessons from a UBDPolicy workshop.Environmental research · 2026Review
- Association between nature exposure and suicidal tendency among Chinese inmates: a moderated mediation model.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Associations between depression and nature-based recreation: A cross-sectional study of adults in the United States, Spain, and Brazil.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effect of Nature Exposure Dose on Adults with Mental Illness.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Outdoor physical activity is not associated with better mental health in a sample of predominantly Black people, but spending time in parks is.Urban forestry & urban greening · 2024Article
- Quantifying Nature: Introducing NatureScoreAmerican journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2024Article
- Assessing nature exposure: a study on the reliability and validity of a Portuguese version of the nature exposure scale.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Reassessing green exercise research: unveiling methodological gaps and pathways for progress.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Review
- Associations of green and blue space exposure in pregnancy with epigenetic gestational age acceleration.Epigenetics · 2023Article
- In situ psycho-cognitive assessments support self-determined urban green exercise time.Urban forestry & urban greening · 2023Article
- Visiting nature is associated with lower socioeconomic inequalities in well-being in Wales.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Cross-sectional associations of different types of nature exposure with psychotropic, antihypertensive and asthma medication.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- The PAD-US-AR dataset: Measuring accessible and recreational parks in the contiguous United States.Scientific data · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
While many studies suggest evidence for the health benefits of nature, there is currently no standardized method to measure time spent in nature or nature contact, nor agreement on how best to define nature contact in research. The purpose of this review is to summarize how nature contact has been measured in recent health research and provide insight into current metrics of exposure to nature at individual and population scales. The most common methods include surrounding greenness, questionnaires, and global positioning systems (GPS) tracking. Several national-level surveys exist, though these are limited by their cross-sectional design, often measuring only a single component of time spent in nature, and poor links to measures of health. In future research, exposure assessment combining the quantifying (e.g., time spent in nature and frequency of visits to nature) and qualifying (e.g., greenness by the normalized difference of vegetation index (NDVI) and ratings on perception by individuals) aspects of current methods and leveraging innovative methods (e.g., experience sampling methods, ecological momentary assessment) will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the health effects of nature exposure and inform health policy and urban planning.
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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.