Abstract
Scarce epidemiologic research examined the associations between residential greenness and dyslipidemia or lipid levels in low/middle-income countries. Baseline statistics (2015–2017) of 39,259 rural-dwelling adults were obtained from a Chinese longitudinal study. The blood lipid level was measured utilizing an enzymatic assay method. According to the 2016 Chinese guidelines on dyslipidemia (revision), patients with dyslipidemia were defined. Participants’ exposure to residential greenness was characterized by the satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Mixed effects logistic regression and mixed effects linear regression were performed to assess the associations of residential greenness with dyslipidemia and lipid levels. The median (interquartile range, IQR) of 3-year average NDVI1000-m was 0.521 (0.089) units. Each IQR increase in NDVI1000-m was significantly linked with increased odds of hyperbetalipoproteinemia (OR = 1.33, 95%CI 1.21–1.46). The same increment in NDVI1000-m was associated with lower total cholesterol (TC) levels and increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. For instance, the %changes in HDL-C levels was 0.71% (95%CI 0.17%-1.26%). The above relationships were partially mediated by reducing air pollution and lowering body mass index (BMI). Interaction effect analysis observed the greenness-lipid association was stronger in males than females (i.e., NDVI1000-m-TC association). Long-term exposure to residential greenness was associated with odds of dyslipidemia and lipid levels in Chinese rural-dwelling adults, particularly among males. Considering the cross-sectional study design, more longitudinal studies are needed to identify the causal associations.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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We sincerely appreciate the support of the study participants.
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The study was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OOP1148464) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei (2018CFB634).
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JJ: Statistical analysis, data interpretation, and drafting paper; SM: Methodology and visualization; YX: Methodology and statistical models; LC: Methodology, reviewing, supervision, and validation; HX: Reviewing, editing, and fund acquisition. XC, KA, ML, JZ, WH, ZH: Investigation and formal analysis. The final manuscript has been reviewed and permitted by all authors.
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Jiang, J., Mao, S., Xie, Y. et al. Is residential greenness associated with dyslipidemia and lipid levels in Chinese rural-dwelling adults? The Henan rural cohort study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 5852–5862 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16026-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16026-3