Arts and culture engagement for health : a Danish population-based follow-up study
(2025) In Scandinavian Journal of Public Health- Abstract
Aims: Using a longitudinal approach, the aim of this study was to examine whether baseline engagement in arts and culture was associated with a decline from ‘Good’ to ‘Poor’ health at follow-up. Methods: Self-rated health (SRH) and engagement in six cultural activities among randomly selected Danish adults (⩾15 years) were assessed using data from the Danish Health and Wellbeing Survey in 2019. One year later, all individuals were invited to complete a follow-up survey questionnaire. SRH was dichotomised into ‘Good’ (very good/good) and ‘Poor’ (fair/bad/very bad). The cultural participation index (CPI) was used to measure engagement in arts and culture activities. Each activity was scored from 0 (never) to 4 (at least once a week). The... (More)
Aims: Using a longitudinal approach, the aim of this study was to examine whether baseline engagement in arts and culture was associated with a decline from ‘Good’ to ‘Poor’ health at follow-up. Methods: Self-rated health (SRH) and engagement in six cultural activities among randomly selected Danish adults (⩾15 years) were assessed using data from the Danish Health and Wellbeing Survey in 2019. One year later, all individuals were invited to complete a follow-up survey questionnaire. SRH was dichotomised into ‘Good’ (very good/good) and ‘Poor’ (fair/bad/very bad). The cultural participation index (CPI) was used to measure engagement in arts and culture activities. Each activity was scored from 0 (never) to 4 (at least once a week). The total score across all activities could reach a maximum of 24. Adjusted logistic regression models assessed associations between cultural participation and poor health at 1-year follow-up. Results: The present study included 3286 individuals who perceived their health as good at baseline who completed both survey waves; 11.2% reported poor health at follow-up. Individuals who attended concerts and musical events at least once every 3 months were less likely to report poor health at follow-up (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0.50, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.35–0.71) than individuals who never attend concerts and musical events. Furthermore, a 1-point-higher CPI score was associated with a 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93–0.99) lower (adjusted) OR of reporting poor health at follow-up. Conclusions: This follow-up study extends our understanding of the positive health outcomes from engagement in arts and culture activities.
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- author
- Jensen, Anita LU ; Thygesen, Lau Caspar ; Folker, Anna Paldam ; Lindström, Martin LU and Ekholm, Ola
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-12-17
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Arts and culture activities, Denmark, follow-up study, public health, self-rated health
- in
- Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:41404980
- scopus:105025005629
- ISSN
- 1403-4948
- DOI
- 10.1177/14034948251399932
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
- id
- 195a9f36-531f-44e1-9d66-71f99f956a9c
- date added to LUP
- 2026-03-02 16:51:17
- date last changed
- 2026-03-16 18:02:02
@article{195a9f36-531f-44e1-9d66-71f99f956a9c,
abstract = {{<p>Aims: Using a longitudinal approach, the aim of this study was to examine whether baseline engagement in arts and culture was associated with a decline from ‘Good’ to ‘Poor’ health at follow-up. Methods: Self-rated health (SRH) and engagement in six cultural activities among randomly selected Danish adults (⩾15 years) were assessed using data from the Danish Health and Wellbeing Survey in 2019. One year later, all individuals were invited to complete a follow-up survey questionnaire. SRH was dichotomised into ‘Good’ (very good/good) and ‘Poor’ (fair/bad/very bad). The cultural participation index (CPI) was used to measure engagement in arts and culture activities. Each activity was scored from 0 (never) to 4 (at least once a week). The total score across all activities could reach a maximum of 24. Adjusted logistic regression models assessed associations between cultural participation and poor health at 1-year follow-up. Results: The present study included 3286 individuals who perceived their health as good at baseline who completed both survey waves; 11.2% reported poor health at follow-up. Individuals who attended concerts and musical events at least once every 3 months were less likely to report poor health at follow-up (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0.50, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.35–0.71) than individuals who never attend concerts and musical events. Furthermore, a 1-point-higher CPI score was associated with a 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93–0.99) lower (adjusted) OR of reporting poor health at follow-up. Conclusions: This follow-up study extends our understanding of the positive health outcomes from engagement in arts and culture activities.</p>}},
author = {{Jensen, Anita and Thygesen, Lau Caspar and Folker, Anna Paldam and Lindström, Martin and Ekholm, Ola}},
issn = {{1403-4948}},
keywords = {{Arts and culture activities; Denmark; follow-up study; public health; self-rated health}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{12}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Scandinavian Journal of Public Health}},
title = {{Arts and culture engagement for health : a Danish population-based follow-up study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14034948251399932}},
doi = {{10.1177/14034948251399932}},
year = {{2025}},
}