Music and public health – An empirical study of the use of music in the daily life of adult Danes and the health implications of musical participation

Abstract

Background: Music and public health is a fairly new field of study. Scientific studies document that participation in cultural activities (in general) can have a positive influence on health, however, music as a specific cultural activity has only been explored empirically in studies with small samples, mainly focusing on health benefits of participating in choral singing. Methods: This study originates from and was part of the Danish Health and Morbidity Surveys (2013) with a representative sample of adult Danes as participants (n = 25,000). The survey included specific music questions, based on a review of the literature. Results: Musical behavior and beliefs are presented as descriptive statistics. Multiple logistic regression models are used to examine associations between various background variables and: (1) playing musical instruments/singing daily, (2) definitely believing that music activities and music experiences can help stay healthy. Conclusion: Musical behaviors and beliefs in the adult Danish population are identified, and the public health potential of musicking (singing, playing and listening to music) are discussed.

Keywords::

• music and public health
• health musicing
• health survey
• music and health behavior
• prophylaxis

Acknowledgements

This study has been supported by Center for Music and Health, The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norway) and the Music Therapy Program at Department of Communication, Aalborg University (Denmark).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.