Benefits of Outdoor Sports for Society. A Systematic Literature Review and Reflections on Evidence

2.1. Literature Identification

A systematic literature review was carried out using the following databases: SportDiscus, ERIC, benefitshub, PubMed, SURF, Cobiss, Natursportinfo, B-On, Dialnet, Share, Data bases of INSEP (Institut National du Sport, de l’Expertise et de la Performance), ENVSN (Centre de documentation de l’Ecole Nationale de Voile et des Sports Nautiques), ENSA (École Nationale de Ski et d’Alpinisme), PRNSN (Pôle Ressources National des Sports de Nature), Catalogue SUDOC and the catalogue of National Sports Academy Sofia. The search was based on title and abstract and used a special keyword combination set as the search formula. The timeframe was limited to 15 years from March 2002 until March 2017. If possible, filters were set for academic journal articles only.

The search string formula (see Table 1) consisted of three parts: (1) an element of nature or outdoor combined with (2) forms of active, physical exercise and (3) the description of effects. Those effects were described as a keyword combination of benefits, impacts, or costs in general and the anticipated benefits that were identified through former literature reviews. To avoid a possible bias the search string consisted not only of terms like “benefit” but also included neutral words like “impact” or “effect” or negative phrases like “costs”.

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A second search string was created that used a keyword combination of single outdoor sport activities and combined this with the possible outcomes. The two search strings are listed in Table 2.

The search strings were translated in all languages of the partner countries using the same key words or equivalents respecting national practice. As equivalents of outdoor sport, terms like “deporte en la naturaleza” or “en el medio natural” were for example included within the Spanish search and different naming of disciplines like horse riding or horseback riding was taken into account. Inclusion criteria were defined according to the underlying definition of outdoor sports that had been agreed within the partners for the use of the project.

The search included activities:

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Examples of activities that are incorporated under this definition are hiking, trekking, swimming in the natural environment, cycling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, canoeing, surfing, or climbing. Sports and activities that take place outdoors or in open air but do not take place in a natural environment like football or tennis are not included in the definition. Also excluded are activities that are not physically demanding like camping or bird watching as well as motorized activities like jet skiing or activities that focus on an object like, for example, a kite or a ball. A list of examples of included and excluded activities is available as an online supplement (see Table S1).

Additionally, the following inclusion criteria were defined for the selection process: (1) interventions with significant nature and sport experience according to the definition of outdoor sport, (2) academic relevance (methodological quality criteria), (3) relationship between outdoor sport intervention and social benefit. Examples for exclusion are articles on management advice, guidelines and examples for programs/training, studies on outdoor play or on open space activities like gardening.

An additional search in reference lists of selected articles was not conducted. Besides the systematic search in the data bases which focused on journal articles, additional studies e.g. of other publication types were included if they were rated as very relevant for the topic. This included grey literature including reports or congress contributions which are not part of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. However, as they were not part of the systematic process they were collected and analyzed separately.

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Categories: Outdoor