The Effect of Urban Gardening Activities on Physical Activity and Sleep Quality in Middle-Aged Women

Abstract

Background and objective: Sleep disorders in middle-aged women are said to be related to stress and physical and psychological symptoms of menopause (Chung and Tang, 2006). Therefore, it is necessary to prepare appropriate intervention measures to promote health in middle-aged women. This study empirically examined the effects of urban gardening activities on the health promotion of middle-aged women and sought the development and applicability of urban gardening programs.Methods: Among middle-aged women in their 40s-50s who had no prior experience with urban gardening, 20 women were in the experimental group participating in the urban gardening program for 12 weeks, and 20 women were in the control group not participating in the program.Results: As a result of comparing the physical activity(IPAQ) between the experimental group and the control group according to participation in urban gardening, the experimental group showed an increase from 2663.50 MET-minute/week before participation in the program to 3675.45 MET-minute/week after participation, while the control group showed a decrease from 3297.90 MET-minute/week to 2830.98 MET-minute/week, but there was no statistically significant difference. As a result of analyzing the change in the stress index(PSS), the experimental group showed a decrease from 15.3 before participation in the program to 12.05 after participation, whereas the control group showed an increase from 13 to 14.5, but this was not statistically significant. For sleep quality (PSQI), the experimental group showed an increase from 6.25 before participation in the program to 5.15 after participation, whereas the control group showed an increase from 6.45 to 6.55, but there was not statistically significant difference.Conclusion: The results of this study empirically confirmed that urban gardening activities can contribute to improving the physical activity and sleep quality of middle-aged women. In the future, these findings will help develop and apply health care programs for middle-aged women using urban gardening activities.