Cultural services and activities: The association with self-rated health and quality of life

Figures & data

Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics and SRH and QOL in participants in the ATH-study. (n = 11,905)

	Men (n = 5,269)		Women (n = 6,636)
	N	%	N	%
Age groups
19–54	2490	68.2	3346	65.1
55–74	1953	26.4	2139	27.3
75-	826	5.4	1151	7.6
Marital status
Married/in a registered relationship	3262	49.0	3339	45.2
Other	1993	51.0	3286	54.8
Family type
Two or more persons	3995	72.4	4468	69.6
Single household	1199	27.6	2061	30.4
Education
Lowest	1933	36.3	2470	37.6
Middle	1659	34.8	2012	31.9
Highest	1538	28.9	1964	30.5
Main activity
Working/retired (old age)	3164	66.9	3827	65.7
Other	1223	33.1	1592	34.3
Perceived health
Rather good or good	2783	61.3	3777	64.1
Moderate – poor	2424	38.7	2775	35.9
EUROHIS-QOL-8
Higher than average	2877	54.6	3773	57.5
Lower	2392	45.4	2861	42.5

Table 2 Measurements of central tendency and skewness in SRH and QOL.

	Male	Female
Perceived health	(n: 5207)	(n: 6552)
Mean	2.45	2.37
Median	2.00	2.00
Standard deviation	1.01	1.01
Skewness	0.31	0.43
EUROHIS-QOL-8	(n: 5269)	(n: 6634)
Mean	2.13	2.12
Median	2.00	2.00
Standard deviation	0.62	0.62
Skewness	0.67	0.75

Table 3 Use of different cultural services and practicing of activities in men and women. (%) (N = 11 905).

Men (n = 5269)					Women (n = 6635)
Services	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Theatre/dance	3.2	2.2	35.3	59.3	1.6	3.6	50.0	44.8	0.00#
Classical concert	4.5	0.9	12.3	82.3	1.9	1.8	20.8	75.5	0.00#
Pop/rock concert	3.2	3.5	32.6	60.7	2.0	2.4	37.2	58.4	0.00#
Museum/art	3.4	1.9	27.9	66.8	1.8	2.7	36.4	59.1	0.00#
Library	9.6	21.3	32.9	36.2	9.5	32.8	32.4	25.3	0.00#
Cinema	2.6	8.0	44.6	44.8	1.6	10.7	48.4	39.3	0.00#
Sports event	5.0	9.7	34.9	50.4	3.2	4.6	26.8	65.4	0.00#
Other event	3.9	1.9	31.4	62.8	2.2	1.8	39.3	56.7	0.00#
Activities	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Writing	2.2	1.4	4.9	91.5	1.8	2.0	6.8	89.4	0.01#
Reading	27.1	15.3	28.3	29.3	40.6	17.5	28.5	13.4	0.00#
Music	39.9	19.2	18.5	22.4	45.0	21.5	18.5	15.0	0.00#
Acting	1.1	0.2	0.6	98.1	0.5	0.2	0.7	98.6	0.01#
Painting	2.5	1.6	6.6	89.3	2.4	2.7	10.1	84.8	0.00#
Crafts	4.3	5.6	18.3	71.8	15.1	10.6	28.4	45.9	0.00#
Photo/video	3.7	6.0	24.0	66.3	3.3	6.2	25.2	65.3	0.56

Note: #p < 0.05.

Table 4 Associations of items of cultural service use and cultural activities with SRH and QOL (EUROHIS-QOL 8 item index).

	Self-rated health rather good or good		EUROHIS-QOL 8 item index better than average
	Use in past 12 months	95% confidence interval	Use in past 12 months	95% confidence interval
Theatre/dance	1.63^#	1.48–1.80	1.71^#	1.55–1.89
Classical concert	1.37^#	1.21–1.55	1.63^#	1.45–1.85
Pop/rock concert	1.81^#	1.63–2.01	1.31^#	1.18–1.45
Museum/art exhibition	1.51^#	1.36–1.67	1.44^#	1.30–1.60
Library	1.70^#	1.53–1.88	1.20^#	1.08–1.33
Cinema	2.50^#	2.27–2.76	1.62^#	1.47–1.78
Sports event	1.62^#	1.47–1.79	1.48^#	1.34–1.64
Other event	1.36^#	1.23–1.50	1.40^#	1.26–1.54
	Activity in past 12 months	95% confidence interval	Activity in past 12 months	95% confidence interval
Writing	1.14	0.96–1.36	0.76^#	0.64–0.90
Reading	1.31^#	1.16–1.47	1.30^#	1.15–1.46
Music	1.73^#	1.54–1.94	1.22^#	1.09–1.37
Acting	0.77	0.52–1.13	0.75	0.51–1.10
Painting	1.23^#	1.05–1.44	0.72^#	0.62–0.84
Crafts	1.05	0.96–1.16	1.13^#	1.02–1.24
Photography/video	1.37^#	1.24–1.52	1.12^#	1.01–1.24

Notes: Logistic regression with odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. ^# p < 0.05. Reference category = no service use/activity in past 12 months (OR = 1).

Table 5 Rotated factor analysis of items of cultural services and activities.

	Factor 1	Factor 2
Museum/art exhibition	0.727	0.198
Classical concert	0.715
Pop/rock concert	0.714
Other event	0.714	0.108
Theatre/dance	0.692	0.109
Cinema	0.662
Sports event	0.575
Library	0.390	0.340
Reading		0.735
Music		0.544
Crafts		0.321
Photography	0.167	0.247

Table 6 Characteristics of the indices of cultural services and cultural activities. (N = 11 905)

	Min/max	Mean	Proportion of observations with index score 0–4 (%)	Proportion of observations with index score 5 or higher (%)	Crohnbach's α for the index
Index of services^a	0/24	4.7	54.2	45.8	0.84
Index of activities^b	0/12	4.2	54.8	45.2	0.51

a Items theatre/dance, classical concert, pop/rock concert, museum/art exhibition, library, cinema, sports event, other event.

b Items reading, music, crafts, photography/video.

Table 7 Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals for good SRH and QOL by sum indices of cultural services and cultural activities.

Good self-rated health
Cultural services^a	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4
	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Use up to average/less	1		1		1		1
Use more than average	2.07#	1.87–2.29	2.06#	1.86–2.28	1.81#	1.62–2.01	1.81#	1.62–2.01
	Model 5		Model 6		Model 7
	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Use up to average/less	1		1		1
Use more than average	1.81#	1.62–2.01	1.64#	1.47–1.83	1.57#	1.39–1.77
Cultural activities^b	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4
	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Activity up to average/less	1		1		1		1
Activity more than average	1.26#	1.14–1.39	1.24#	1.12–1.37	1.26#	1.14–1.40	1.26#	1.14–1.40
	Model 5		Model 6		Model 7
	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Activity up to average/less	1		1		1
Activity more than average	1.26#	1.13–1.40	1.19#	1.07–1.33	1.24#	1.10–1.39
Good quality of life
Cultural services^a	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4
	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Use up to average/less	1		1		1		1
Use more than average	1.66#	1.50–1.83	1.65#	1.49–1.82	1.67#	1.51–1.85	1.68#	1.52–1.86
	Model 5		Model 6		Model 7
	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Use up to average/less	1		1		1
Use more than average	1.68#	1.52–1.86	1.55#	1.40–1.73	1.48#	1.32–1.66
Cultural activities^b	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4
	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Activity up to average/less	1		1		1		1
Activity more than average	1.16#	1.05–1.28	1.14#	1.03–1.26	1.14#	1.03–1.26	1.14#	1.03–1.26
	Model 5		Model 6		Model 7
	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Activity up to average/less	1		1		1
Activity more than average	1.15#	1.04–1.27	1.09	0.99–1.21	1.09	0.98–1.22

Notes: #p <  0.05.

Model 1: Straight associations; Model 2: Adjusted for gender; Model 3: Adjusted for gender and age; Model 4: Adjusted for gender, age and marital status; Model 5: Adjusted for gender, age, marital status and family type; Model 6: Adjusted for gender, age, marital status, family type and education; Model 7: Adjusted for gender, age, marital status, family type, education and main activity

Reference category = use/activity up to average or less. (OR = 1)

a Items theatre/dance, classical concert, pop/rock concert, museum/art exhibition, library, cinema, sports event, other event.

b Items reading, music, crafts, photography/video.

Use of different cultural services and practicing of activities according to age and education (%) (n = 11 905).

Age
	19–54 years (n = 5836)				55–74 years (n = 4092)				75- years (n = 1977)
Services	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Theatre/dance	2.2	2.6	42.9	52.3	2.5	3.9	45.6	48.0	4.1	1.7	27.9	52.0	0.00^#
Classical concert	3.0	0.7	14.8	81.5	3.2	2.6	21.6	72.6	5.0	2.2	14.0	78.8	0.00^#
Pop/rock concert	2.0	3.9	42.8	51.3	3.3	1.2	22.2	73.2	5.2	0.2	6.3	88.3	0.00^#
Museum/art	2.4	2.2	32.5	62.7	2.7	2.3	33.6	61.3	4.5	1.4	22.6	71.5	0.00^#
Library	10.2	30.6	35.0	24.2	8.7	22.0	30.9	38.3	6.0	12.0	16.2	65.9	0.00^#
Cinema	1.6	12.5	54.0	32.0	2.8	3.7	36.0	57.5	4.7	0.8	13.8	80.7	0.00^#
Sports event	3.8	8.7	33.5	54.0	4.6	4.5	28.7	62.2	4.8	1.6	12.5	81.1	0.00^#
Other event	2.7	2.0	34.9	60.4	3.3	1.8	39.7	55.1	4.6	0.8	21.3	73.2	0.00^#
Activities	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Writing	2.0	1.9	6.4	89.6	1.9	1.2	5.2	91.8	2.5	1.8	3.1	92.6	0.00^#
Reading	28.8	17.4	31.9	21.9	41.4	15.1	23.6	19.9	54.4	11.2	12.0	22.4	0.00^#
Music	45.9	21.3	18.5	14.3	35.7	19.2	19.6	25.5	34.7	15.5	14.0	35.8	0.00^#
Acting	0.8	0.2	0.6	98.5	0.8	0.3	0.7	98.3	1.1	0.2	1.2	97.5	0.36
Painting	2.7	2.5	10.4	84.4	2.0	1.6	4.6	91.8	1.9	0.6	3.0	94.4	0.00^#
Crafts	6.8	7.4	24.9	60.9	15.9	10.2	21.6	52.3	14.6	7.0	15.1	63.3	0.00^#
Photo/video	3.6	7.1	27.1	62.1	3.6	4.7	22.7	69.1	1.8	1.4	7.4	89.5	0.00^#
Education
Lowest (n = 4403)					Middle (n = 3671)				Highest (n = 3502)
Services	≥ 1 times a week	1-3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	≥ 1 times a week	1-3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Theatre/dance	2.8	2.0	32.0	63.3	2.6	2.7	43.2	51.5	1.7	4.2	56.2	37.9	0.00^#
Classical concert	3.7	0.4	9.7	86.3	3.0	0.8	14.8	81.4	2.8	3.0	27.3	66.8	0.00^#
Pop/rock concert	3.1	2.2	28.9	65.8	2.4	3.1	37.9	56.6	2.0	3.8	40.2	54.0	0.00^#
Museum/art	3.1	1.3	19.7	75.9	2.7	2.0	31.6	63.7	1.8	3.8	48.9	45.5	0.00^#
Library	8.1	21.5	29.8	40.5	9.6	27.7	33.9	28.7	11.3	33.5	35.6	19.5	0.00^#
Cinema	2.4	7.0	38.5	52.1	2.2	9.6	49.2	39.0	1.6	12.4	54.5	31.6	0.00^#
Sports event	4.4	6.3	27.5	61.8	4.3	8.9	32.4	54.4	3.4	6.5	33.5	56.7	0.00^#
Other event	3.7	1.3	26.5	68.5	2.9	1.7	37.6	57.7	2.3	2.7	44.3	50.7	0.00^#
Activities	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Writing	1.5	1.4	3.3	93.8	2.1	1.5	6.0	90.4	2.6	2.4	9.2	85.9	0.00^#
Reading	28.8	14.7	27.4	29.1	32.7	17.0	29.4	20.9	41.4	17.9	28.7	12.0	0.00^#
Music	39.9	18.7	17.1	24.3	43.6	20.8	19.0	16.6	44.8	21.8	20.3	13.2	0.00^#
Acting	0.7	0.2	0.7	98.5	1.0	0.2	0.5	98.2	0.7	0.3	0.8	98.3	0.59
Painting	2.4	2.0	7.0	88.6	2.6	2.1	8.5	86.8	2.3	2.5	10.0	85.3	0.06
Crafts	10.3	8.3	21.9	59.5	9.5	7.6	22.9	59.9	8.9	8.6	26.1	56.4	0.01^#
Photo/video	2.9	5.0	19.9	72.2	4.0	5.9	25.1	65.0	3.7	7.8	30.4	58.1	0.00^#

Note: ^# p <  0.05.

Table A2 Use of different cultural services and practicing of activities according to marital status, family type, and main activity (%) (N = 11 905).

Marital status
Married/in a registered relationship (N = 6,601)					Other (N = 5,279)
Services	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Theatre/dance	1.9	2.6	46.5	49.0	2.8	3.1	39.4	54.8	0.00#
Classical concert	2.6	1.4	18.4	77.6	3.8	1.3	14.8	80.1	0.00#
Pop/rock concert	2.2	1.4	31.3	65.0	2.9	4.3	38.1	54.7	0.00#
Museum/art	2.3	1.5	33.3	62.9	2.9	3.0	31.0	63.2	0.00#
Library	7.4	28.5	34.3	29.8	11.5	25.8	31.2	31.5	0.00#
Cinema	1.8	5.8	45.8	46.8	2.3	12.3	47.3	38.0	0.00#
Sports event	3.9	6.9	32.8	56.5	4.2	7.3	29.1	59.4	0.02#
Other event	2.4	1.7	36.6	59.3	3.5	1.9	34.1	60.4	0.01#
Activities	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Writing	1.8	1.3	4.9	92.0	2.2	2.1	6.8	89.0	0.00#
Reading	35.7	16.2	27.4	20.8	32.4	16.4	29.2	22.0	0.04#
Music	35.0	21.4	21.5	22.1	48.9	19.4	16.0	15.8	0.00#
Acting	0.5	0.2	0.7	98.6	1.0	0.3	0.6	98.1	0.08
Painting	1.8	1.4	6.3	90.5	3.0	2.8	10.2	84.0	0.00#
Crafts	10.8	8.7	23.6	56.9	8.8	7.6	23.2	60.3	0.00#
Photo/video	3.4	6.6	25.3	64.7	3.5	5.5	24.1	66.8	0.16
Family type
2 or more persons (N = 8463)					Single household (N = 3260)
Services	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Theatre/dance	2.1	2.5	44.7	50.6	3.1	3.6	37.7	55.5	0.00#
Classical concert	2.8	1.0	16.6	79.6	4.2	2.0	16.3	77.4	0.00#
Pop/rock concert	2.3	2.3	35.9	59.5	3.4	4.3	33.0	59.3	0.00#
Museum/art	2.3	2.0	32.1	63.6	3.3	2.8	32.8	61.1	0.02#
Library	8.4	27.8	34.6	29.2	12.2	25.7	28.5	33.7	0.00#
Cinema	1.8	8.7	48.8	40.7	2.9	11.1	41.8	44.3	0.00#
Sports event	3.9	7.7	32.8	55.7	4.5	5.9	26.2	63.4	0.00#
Other event	2.7	1.7	35.7	59.9	3.8	2.2	34.4	59.7	0.11#
Activities	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Writing	1.8	1.4	5.3	91.4	2.5	2.4	7.1	88.0	0.00#
Reading	32.6	16.5	29.2	21.7	37.1	15.8	26.4	20.7	0.00#
Music	39.1	21.3	20.4	19.2	50.7	18.0	14.3	17.1	0.00#
Acting	0.7	0.2	0.6	98.5	1.1	0.3	0.8	97.8	0.22
Painting	2.3	2.1	7.9	87.8	2.8	2.3	9.3	85.5	0.17
Crafts	9.2	8.3	24.0	58.5	10.8	7.8	21.6	59.8	0.03#
Photo/video	3.5	6.5	25.8	64.2	3.6	5.1	22.2	69.2	0.00#
Main activity
Working/retired (old age) (N = 6991)					Other (N = 2815)
Services	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	≥ 1 times a week	1–3 times a month	A few times in the year	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Theatre/dance	2.3	3.0	47.7	46.9	2.1	2.9	36.2	58.8	0.00#
Classical concert	3.0	1.5	18.2	77.3	3.2	0.9	14.2	81.7	0.00#
Pop/rock concert	2.4	2.6	38.3	56.7	2.3	4.2	34.7	58.7	0.01#
Museum/art	2.6	1.6	33.8	62.0	2.2	3.7	31.1	62.9	0.00#
Library	7.3	26.9	35.7	30.2	14.7	31.1	30.2	24.1	0.00#
Cinema	1.8	8.8	50.6	38.9	2.0	12.4	46.1	39.6	0.00#
Sports event	4.1	7.8	34.1	54.0	3.7	7.0	28.4	60.9	0.00#
Other event	2.8	1.7	39.1	56.4	3.1	2.3	31.1	63.4	0.00#
Activities	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	≥ 3 times a week	1–2 times a week	1–3 times a month	Not in past 12 months	Pearson p-value
Writing	1.6	1.3	5.1	92.0	2.7	2.5	8.0	86.8	0.00#
Reading	33.0	16.3	29.6	21.2	31.6	17.5	29.4	21.5	0.61
Music	38.7	21.4	21.1	18.7	51.3	19.4	14.4	14.8	0.00#
Acting	0.6	0.2	0.7	98.5	1.2	0.3	0.4	98.2	0.03#
Painting	1.7	1.5	7.0	89.9	4.1	3.8	12.3	79.8	0.00#
Crafts	9.3	8.8	23.5	58.4	9.4	7.2	24.8	58.6	0.20
Photo/video	3.0	5.6	26.8	64.6	4.7	8.2	24.3	62.9	0.00#

Note: #p <  0.05.