Individual and Environmental Correlates to Quality of Life in Park Users in Colombia
Diana Marina Camargo
1
Research Group in Harmony, Movement and Life, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga 680002, Colombia
2
Research Group in Human Being, Culture and Movement, Universidad Santo Tomás, Bucaramanga 680001, Colombia
3
Research Group in Environment, Physical Activity and Health (GPAAFS), Postgraduate Program in Physical Education, Federal University of Technology-Parana, Curitiba-PR 81310-900, Brazil
4
Research Group in Physical Activity and Quality of Life (GPAQ), Pontiff Catholic University of Parana, Curitiba-PR 80215-901, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(10), 1250; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101250
Received: 18 August 2017 / Revised: 8 October 2017 / Accepted: 9 October 2017 / Published: 19 October 2017
(This article belongs to the Section Health Behavior, Chronic Disease and Health Promotion)
Purpose: To explore individual and environmental correlates to quality of life (QoL) in park users in Colombia. Methods: A cross-sectional study with face-to-face interviews was conducted with 1392 park users from ten parks in Colombia. The survey included sociodemographic questions, health condition assessed with EuroQuol-5-Dimensions-5-Levels; in addition, questions about accessibility to the parks and perceptions about quality of infrastructure and green areas were asked. The Spanish version of the questionnaire EUROHIS-QOL-8 items was applied to assess QoL. Log-binomial regression models were applied for analyses. Results: Years of schooling, visits to the park with a companion, active use of the park, a maximum score for quality of trees and walking paths, and the perception of safety on the way to the park were positively associated with a better QoL (p < 0.05). Health conditions related to problems in the ability to perform activities of daily living and anxiety/depression showed negative associations. Conclusions: The present study contributes to the Latin American studies by providing information on how parks in an intermediate city may contribute to increased QoL of park users through safety in neighborhoods, social support, active use, and aesthetics, cleanliness, and care of green areas.
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Keywords:
quality of life; built environment; parks; recreational; health status
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Camargo, D.M.; Ramírez, P.C.; Fermino, R.C. Individual and Environmental Correlates to Quality of Life in Park Users in Colombia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 1250.
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