Weegh, J. op de (Julius) (2021) Quality of life over time of adults joining nature walking groups and its cost effectiveness: A longitudinal observational study. thesis, Human Movement Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Introduction: There is growing interest in walking as a form of exercise. Walking is a safe and easy way of increasing physical activity level. Walking has wide-ranging health benefits in healthy older people and several Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs) have shown beneficial effects of walking in groups on Quality of Life (QoL). However, the interventions investigated in these RCTs are limitedly representative of implemented walking programs. In RCTs participants generally walk at least twice a week for a limited period of time. Most implemented walking programs, such as Healthy Nature Walking (GNW), only walk once a week for an indefinite period. Besides, most RCTs differ from implemented walking programs with respect to participants, guides, organisation and adherence. This raises the question if walking with GNW has similar benefits on QoL. Aim: The current study has three aims. The first aim is to examine to what extent the QoL of GNW walkers differs from literature norms. The second aim is to examine changes in QoL over time in GNW walkers versus non-GNW walkers. The third aim is to examine to cost effectiveness of GNW. Method: The study design is a longitudinal observational design. Two groups of participants were included: participants who walk voluntarily for an undefined duration and frequency with a GNW walking group in their neighbourhood (GNW group, n=39; 70,2±5,8 years; 71,8% female) and a peer reference group (PR group, n=35; 66,6±8,9 years; 40,0% female) not joining GNW. QoL was measured with two validated questionnaires (WHOQOL-BREF, EQ-5D-5L). Results: At baseline, QoL scores of the GNW group were comparable or slightly better than reference values from the literature. QoL of the GNW group increased over an 18-week period while QoL of the PR group decreased. A cost effectiveness analysis from the EQ-5D-5L using EQ-index scores suggested that the walks of GNW are cost effective. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that GNW walking is beneficial for QoL in a cost-effective way. The GNW group experienced a similar QoL compared to the literature-based norms from the EQ-5D-5L, and a higher QoL compared to the literature-based norms from the WHOQOL-BREF. The GNW group experienced a better QoL compared to the PR group over an 18-week period. However, the results should be interpreted with caution, since they are based on observational research with non-randomized groups. Systematic differences between the GNW and PR group may confound the results and causality cannot be established. Furthermore, QoL was only measured over an 18-week period and participants started walking at different moments in time. Nevertheless, the findings legitimize further research on the health effects of GNW. It is recommended to examine QoL over time from subgroups of GNW who started walking at different moments in time. In addition, it is recommended to measure QoL over a longer period of time.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Heuvelen, dr. M.J.G. van and Withagen, dr. R.G. |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 16 May 2022 07:58 |
| Last Modified: | 16 May 2022 07:58 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3329 |
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