A comparative study of the physiological and psychological effects of forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) on working age people with and without depressive tendencies

Table 1 Characteristics of the subjects

	All subjects (n = 155)		Non-depressive tendency^a (n = 97)	Depressive tendency^b (n = 58)	P value^c
	Mean ± SD	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	P value^c
Age	44.0 ± 9.6	155 (100)	45.0 ± 9.7	42.3 ± 9.3	0.470
Age groups
≤ 29	5.33 ± 3.60 (K6 score)	12 (7.7)	5 (41.7)	7 (58.3)	0.068
30–39	3.40 ± 3.27 (K6 score)	40 (25.8)	26 (65.0)	14 (35.0)
40–49	4.35 ± 3.28 (K6 score)	52 (33.5)	28 (53.8)	24 (46.2)
50–59	2.76 ± 2.83 (K6 score)	51 (32.9)	38 (74.5)	13 (25.5)
Sex
Male	3.68 ± 2.86 (K6 score)	69 (44.5)	41 (59.4)	28 (40.6)	0.507
Female	3.64 ± 3.52 (K6 score)	86 (55.5)	56 (65.1)	30 (34.9)	0.507
Body mass index	22.3 ± 3.2	101 (100)	22.5 ± 2.9	22.0 ± 3.4	0.816
Medication
no	3.45 ± 3.23 (K6 score)	127 (81.9)	84 (66.1)	43 (33.9)	0.056
yes^d	4.51 ± 3.17 (K6 score)	28 (18.1)	13 (46.4)	15 (53.6)	0.056
Health-related QOL
PCS	51.2 ± 4.5	155 (100)	51.3 ± 3.8	51.1 ± 5.5	0.916
MCS	47.9 ± 6.0	155 (100)	50.6 ± 4.7	43.2 ± 5.0	< 0.001
K6 score	3.66 ± 3.24	155 (100)	1.56 ± 1.50	7.17 ± 2.10	< 0.001

QOL quality of life, PCS physical component summary, MCS mental component summary
^aNon-depressive tendency: K6 ≤ 4
^bDepressive tendency: 5 ≤ K6 ≤ 12
^cChi-square test or Mann–Whitney U test (non-depressive tendency vs. depressive tendency)
^dMedication: hypertension (n = 6), dyslipidemia (n = 5), diabetes mellitus (n = 3), others (n = 14)

ISSN: 1347-4715