A comparison of the effects of selected mono-ethnic urban environments on the autonomic functions of Muslim and Jewish women in Israel

Diana Saadi, Keren Agay-Shay, Emanuel Tirosh, Izhak Schnell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Few previous studies evaluated ethnic differences in the effects of urban environments on the autonomic balance in intra-ethnic environments and the mediation effects of environmental exposures (air pollution, noise, and thermal load). In a field experimental study, we exposed 48 Muslim and 24 Jewish women to park, town center, and residential street in Israeli mono-ethnic small towns. Heart rate variability (HRV), noise, thermal load, and carbon monoxide (CO) were measured by portable devices while visiting the environments and were analyzed using mixed models. The results highlight the restorative effect of parks on both ethnic groups with stronger effect for Jewish women compared to Muslim women (β coefficient (95% confidence interval (CI)): − 6.45(− 6.70, − 6.20); − 4.99 (− 5.15, − 4.83), respectively). However, significant differences were recorded in Muslim and Jewish coping with the environments and the environmental exposures as measured by HRV.

Original languageEnglish
Article number627
Pages (from-to)627
JournalEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment
Volume190
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 2 Oct 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The study is part of a project in the Porter school on Environmental studies at Tel Aviv University. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tel Aviv University. Before beginning the experiment, a full explanation about the research aim, the experimental procedure, and all measured indices were provided. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects. This study was conducted in accordance with the regulations of the Ethics Committee of the Ethics Committee of Tel Aviv University.

Funding Information:
Funding information This work was financially supported by the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, Foundation of Smaller and Winikob for outstanding environmental character collaboration, the Jewish National Fund L’Israel, and Tami Stienmetz for Peace Research, Tel Aviv University.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Keywords

  • Heart rate variability
  • Mono-ethnic environments
  • Park
  • Residential and town center environments

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