Residential Surrounding Greenness, Self-Rated Health and Interrelations with Aspects of Neighborhood Environment and Social Relations

Previous research suggests that green environments positively influence health. Several underlying mechanisms have been discussed; one of them is facilitation of social interaction. Further, greener neighborhoods may appear more aesthetic, contributing to satisfaction and well-being. Aim of this study was to analyze the association of residential surrounding greenness with self-rated health, using data from 4480 women and men aged 45–75 years that participated in the German population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall study. We further aimed to explore the relationships of greenness and self-rated health with the neighborhood environment and social relations. Surrounding greenness was measured using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within 100 m around participants’ residence. As a result, we found that with higher greenness, poor self-rated health decreased (adjusted OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.82–0.98; per 0.1 increase in NDVI), while neighborhood satisfaction (1.41, 1.23–1.61) and neighborhood social capital (1.22, 1.12–1.32) increased. Further, we observed inverse associations of neighborhood satisfaction (0.70, 0.52–0.94), perceived safety (0.36, 0.22–0.60), social satisfaction (0.43, 0.31–0.58), and neighborhood social capital (0.53, 0.44–0.64) with poor self-rated health. These results underline the importance of incorporating green elements into neighborhoods for health-promoting urban development strategies.