3.1. Study Participants and Baseline Characteristics
ADVERSE EFFECTS
Two hundred and fifty-seven individuals were screened for eligibility to participate in this study, 165 were excluded: 49 individuals did not meet the inclusion criteria, 116 individuals declined to participate due to personal reasons or the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2019, 24 people were enrolled in the HG and 28 in the FTG; in June 2021, 20 people were enrolled in the HG and 18 in the FTG. This time gap occurred due to limited scientific staff resources. The four groups were pooled into one HG (n = 42) and one FTG (n = 46) for examination. Two participants from the HG did not receive allocated intervention (personal reasons) and two further participants were excluded from the analysis because they did not meet inclusion criteria anymore (relationship status). Consequently, 42 participants of the HG and 46 participants of the forest therapy group (Except for relationship duration, baseline characteristics showed no relevant differences in inclusion criteria between the study groups (The hiking intervention as well as the forest therapy were well tolerated by all participants. No adverse effects or harms were observed in any group. 