The impact of gardening on well-being, mental health, and quality of life: an umbrella review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Gardening and horticultural therapy (HT) has been widely recognised as a multicomponent approach that has affected a broad range of health and well-being outcomes. The aim of this umbrella review and meta-analysis was to compare the findings of previous reviews on the impact of multiple gardening interventions and gardening attributes on different well-being constructs. METHODS: Electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched from inception to December 2022. Interventional and observational reviews were eligible for inclusion in this umbrella review. Outcome measures included mental well-being, health status and quality of life. The key exposure variables were gardening and horticultural therapy. Narrative synthesis was used to evaluate the overall impact of gardening and HT on study outcomes. For a subsample of studies with available quantitative data, a random effect meta-analysis was conducted. RESULTS: This umbrella review included 40 studies (10 interventional studies, 2 observational studies, and 28 mixed interventional and observational studies). The reviewed studies reported an overall positive impact of gardening activities on several measures of mental well-being, quality of life, and health status. Meta-analysis showed a significant and positive effect of gardening and HT activities on well-being (effect size (ES) 0.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.23, 0.87, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from observational and interventional studies supports a positive role for gardening and HT activities on well-being and general health. Interventional studies with horticultural-based therapies were effective in improving well-being and quality of life both in the general population and vulnerable subgroups. The high degree of heterogeneity in the included studies cautions against any direct clinical implications of the study findings.

Who uses recovery colleges? Casemix analysis of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and representativeness of recovery college students.

OBJECTIVE: Recovery Colleges support recovery for adults with mental health problems, through coproduction and education principles. This study aimed to determine whether students at three Recovery Colleges in England were representative of mental health service users. METHODS: Gender, age, ethnicity, diagnosis, involuntary detention, and inpatient admission were extracted from clinical records. Data for all service user students enrolled, and those who had attended 70% of a Recovery College course were compared to mental health services caseloads, using chi-square goodness-of-fit tests. RESULTS: Clinical records were identified for 1,788 students. Significant differences were identified for gender, age, and diagnosis (p < .001). In some Colleges, more students had recent inpatient admissions or involuntary detentions. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Service user students were largely representative of mental health service users, although some groups were underrepresented. Further research is needed to understand why, so that Recovery Colleges can continue to address inequalities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Depressive and anxiety symptomatology among people with asthma or atopic dermatitis: A population-based investigation using the UK Biobank data.

The present study investigated the association of depression and anxiety symptomatology (DAS) with asthma and atopic dermatitis (AD) diagnosis during mid-adult years. The study employed data from 502,641 participants in the UK Biobank. Neutrophils to Lymphocytes Ratios (NLRs) of patients with asthma and AD were calculated and evaluated in relation to DAS, measured via the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Age of asthma or AD onset association with DAS were also estimated. Multivariable regression analyses were implemented among participants with asthma or AD, compared to those without these disorders. Out of 58,833 participants with asthma and 13,462 with AD, the prevalence of DAS was 11.7% and 2.7%, respectively. DAS increased among participants with either asthma or AD, being highest within patients having both (ß = 0.41, 95% confidence interval (95%CI), 0.34,0.49). NLR showed a linear increase with PHQ scores in asthma patients, (tertile 1, ß = 0.30, 95% CI, 0.27,0.34; tertile 2, ß = 0.36, 95%CI, 0.32,0.39, and tertile 3, ß = 0.43, 95%CI, 0.39,0.46). An inverted U-shaped association was seen between age of asthma onset and PHQ, with the 40-59 age group (ß = 0.54, 95%CI, 0.48,0.59) showing the highest risk followed by the 60+ (ß = 0.43, 95%CI, 0.34,0.51 and 20-39 groups (ß = 0.32, 95%CI, 0.27,0.38). Similar patterns emerged within AD. Asthma and AD were associated with increased DAS during mid-adult years, being strongest among participants reporting both disorders. A dose-response relationship between NLR and DAS was observed. Asthma or AD onset during mid-adult years (40-59) were associated with the highest increment in DAS.

A dosimetric comparison of flattening filter free and conventional VMAT treatments for some common cancer sites.

The aim of this study was to assess the potential for treating various common cancer sites with flattening filter free (FFF) rather than conventionally flattened (cFF) treatment plans considering both in-field and out-of-field dosimetry. This study seeks to extend previous work by others to the Elekta Agility VMAT treatments commonly used at our clinic. Nine matched pairs of conventional and FFF 6X treatment plans for prostate, head and neck, and brain cancer sites were generated using the Monaco treatment planning system (Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden). Absorbed dose distribution statistics for target and healthy tissue volumes reported by the Monaco treatment planning system were compared. One matched pair of plans for each cancer site was experimentally validated by film and ion chamber measurements in an anthropomorphic phantom. Head leakage was measured at various positions in a small water tank and corrections made to the out-of-field dose distributions calculated by the treatment planning system. Out-of-field organ doses and effective whole body doses were calculated according to ICRP103 (Charles in Radiat Prot Dosim 129:500-507, 2008). The in-field target and organ dose statistics for the cFF and FFF plans were comparable whereas the out-of-field organ and whole body effective doses for plans delivered using 6X FFF were generally lower than those delivered with 6X cFF. A modest increase in monitor unit (MU) delivery rates was also observed with the FFF beams. We conclude that treatment plan delivery using FFF rather than cFF beams is feasible and may provide benefits in terms of reduced out-of-field doses and secondary cancer risks for some patients.