The relationship of green space, depressive symptoms and perceived general health in urban population

Aims:To assess the relationship between green space proximity, use of green space and depressive symptoms and perceived general health among a random sample men and women. Methods: Cross-sectional study of a population-based sample of 6,944 45–72 year old Kaunas city residents. Self-reported questionnaires provided information on sociodemographic variables, health behaviours, depressive symptoms and poor and very poor perceived general health. Residential proximity to green spaces was defined as living less than 300 m, within interval of 300–999 m, and equal or more than 1 km from a park. The use of the park was divided into two categories: no park use or use 300 m from a green space and who used the space ≥4 h/week showed higher odds 1.92 (1.11–3.3) and 1.68 (0.81–3.48) of depressive symptoms and poor and very poor perceived general health as compared to those who used the park 300 m. Conclusions: The results of our study confirmed an association between use of the green space, residential proximity, and depressive symptoms and poor and very poor perceived general health among women only