title: Green exercise as a workplace intervention to reduce job stress. Results from a pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stress and mental fatigue are major health threats to employees in office-based occupations. Physical activity is widely used as a stress-management intervention for employees. Moreover, experiences in contact with nature have been shown to provide stress-reduction and restoration from mental fatigue.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In a pilot study designed as a randomized controlled trial we investigated the impact of a green-exercise intervention on psychological and physiological indicators of stress in municipality employees.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen employees (7 females and 7 males, 49±8 yrs) volunteered in an exercise-based intervention in workplace either outdoors in a green/nature area or in an indoor exercise-setting. The intervention consisted of an information meeting and two exercise sessions, each including a biking bout and a circuit-strength sequence using elastic rubber bands (45-minutes, at about 55% of HR reserve, overall). Main outcomes were perceived environmental potential for restoration, affective state, blood pressure (BP) and cortisol awakening response (CAR AUC(G) and CAR AUC(I)) and cortisol levels in serum. Measurements were taken at baseline and in concomitance with the exercise sessions. Furthermore, affective state and self-reported physical activity levels were measured over a 10-weeks follow-up period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the indoor group, the nature group reported higher environmental potential for restoration (p <  0.001) and Positive Affect (p <  0.01), along with improved CAR AUC(I) (p = 0.04) and, marginally, diastolic BP (p = 0.05). The nature group also reported higher ratings of Positive Affect at follow-up (p = 0.02). Differences at post-exercise were not found for any of the other components of affective state, systolic BP, CAR AUC(G) and cortisol levels measured in serum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Green-exercise at the workplace could be a profitable way to manage stress and induce restoration among employees. Further studies on larger samples are needed in order to improve the generalizability of the results.
authors.affiliation: Section for Public Health Science, Department of Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Aas, Norway.|Faculty of Public Health, Department of Dental Care and Public Health, Hedmark University College (HH), Elverum, Norway.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calogiuri
authors.affiliation: Section for Public Health Science, Department of Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Aas, Norway.
authors.forename: Katinka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Evensen
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Sciences, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, Alta, Norway.
authors.forename: Andi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weydahl
authors.affiliation: Section for Public Health Science, Department of Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Aas, Norway.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.affiliation: Section for Public Health Science, Department of Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Aas, Norway.
authors.forename: Grete
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.affiliation: Section for Public Health Science, Department of Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Aas, Norway.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ihlebæk
authors.affiliation: Section for Public Health Science, Department of Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Aas, Norway.
authors.forename: Ruth K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Raanaas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001794:Blood Pressure; D004777:Environment; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D005222:Mental Fatigue / Q000517:prevention & control; D008875:Middle Aged; D019368:Nature; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016272:Occupational Health; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017132:Workplace
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Natural environment; job stress; mental fatigue; restorative environment; workplace intervention