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Scientific article
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English

Earth observation data uncover green spaces’ role in mental health

Contributors

Araújo, Leonardo D.; Zanotta, Daniel C.; Ray, Nicolas; Veronez, Maurício R.

Published in

Scientific reports, vol. 14, no. 1, 20933

Publication date

2024-09-09

First online date

2024-09-09

Abstract

The prevalence of mental health disorders, a key disability cause, is linked to demographic and socioeconomic factors. However, limited data exists on mental health and the urban environment. Urbanization exposes populations to environmental stressors, particularly affecting low-middle-income countries with complex urban arrangements. We used remote sensing and census data to investigate potential connections between environmental factors and mental health disorders. Land cover variables were assessed using the European Space Agency (ESA) global WorldCover product at 10 m resolution together with the database of mental health diagnosed cases (n = 5769) from the Brazilian Unified Health System’s Department of Informatics (DATASUS) from every health facility of the city of Porto Alegre. The association of mental health data with land cover was established with machine learning algorithms and polynomial regression models. The results suggest that higher trees cover at neighborhood level was associated with better mental health index. A lower mental health index was also found to be associated with an higher Human Development Index. Our results highlight the potential of greenness in the city environment to achieve substantially better mental health outcomes.

Keywords

  • Urban green space
  • Mental health
  • Remote sensing
  • Tree cover

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

ARAÚJO, Leonardo D. et al. Earth observation data uncover green spaces’ role in mental health. In: Scientific reports, 2024, vol. 14, n° 1, p. 20933. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-72008-8

Main files (1)

Article (Published version)
CC BY-4.0

Identifiers

Additional URL for this publication

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-72008-8

Journal ISSN

2045-2322
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53downloads

Technical informations

Creation

10/09/2024 20:56:34

First validation

02/10/2024 08:02:33

Update

30/10/2024 13:18:15

Status update

30/10/2024 13:18:15

Last indexation

10/06/2025 21:57:35
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