Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of people’s lives. Lockdown measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have been more stringent for those aged over 70, at highest risk for the disease. Here, we examine whether home garden usage is associated with self-reported mental and physical wellbeing in older adults, during COVID-19 lockdown in Scotland. This study analysed data from 171 individuals (mean age 84±0.5 years) from the [anonymised for review], who completed an online survey approximately two months after lockdown commenced (May/June, 2020), and reported having access to a home garden. The survey also included items on garden activities (gardening, relaxing), frequency of garden usage, and measures of self-rated physical health, emotional and mental health, anxiety regarding COVID-19, and sleep quality. Ordinal regression models were adjusted for sex, living alone, education, occupational social class, anxiety and depressive symptoms, body mass index, and history of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Neither gardening nor relaxing in the garden were associated with health outcomes. However, higher frequency of garden usage during lockdown was associated with better self-rated physical health (P=0.005), emotional and mental health (P=0.04), sleep quality (P=0.03), and a composite health score (P=0.001), after adjusting for covariates. None of the garden measures were associated with perceived change in physical health, mental and emotional health, or sleep quality, from pre-lockdown levels. The results of the current study provide support for positive health benefits of spending time in a garden—though associations may be bidirectional—and suggest that domestic gardens could be a potential health resource during the COVID-19 pandemic.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 期间家庭花园的使用：与老年人身心健康的关联

摘要 COVID-19 大流行影响了人们生活的许多方面。为减少 COVID-19 传播而采取的封锁措施对 70 岁以上的人群更为严格，他们是该病的最高风险人群。在这里，我们研究了在苏格兰 COVID-19 封锁期间家庭花园的使用是否与老年人自我报告的身心健康有关。这项研究分析了来自 [匿名审查] 的 171 人（平均年龄 84±0.5 岁）的数据，他们在封锁开始后大约两个月（2020 年 5 月/6 月）完成了一项在线调查，并报告可以使用家庭花园. 该调查还包括有关园艺活动（园艺、放松）、园艺使用频率以及自评身体健康、情绪和心理健康、对 COVID-19 的焦虑和睡眠质量的措施。顺序回归模型针对性别、独居、教育、职业社会阶层、焦虑和抑郁症状、体重指数以及糖尿病和心血管疾病史进行了调整。园艺和在花园里放松都与健康结果无关。然而，锁定期间更高频率的花园使用与更好的自评身体健康（P=0.005）、情绪和心理健康（P=0.04）、睡眠质量（P=0.03）和综合健康评分（P= 0.001)，调整协变量后。与封锁前的水平相比，花园措施中没有一项与身体健康、心理和情绪健康或睡眠质量的感知变化相关。