Leisure participation predicts survival: a population-based study in Finland

Abstract

The authors study whether leisure participation is an independent predictor of survival over 20 years. Of the nationally representative sample of 8000 adult Finns (Mini-Finland Health Survey), aged >or=30 years, the cohort of 30-59 years (n 5087) was chosen for the Cox proportional survival analyses. The sum score of leisure participation was divided in quartiles (the lowest quartile = scarce = 0-6), two intermediate quartiles = 7-11 and the highest quartile = abundant = 12-21). Adjusted for statistically significant covariates (age, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, self-rated health and diagnosed chronic diseases), and with scarce participation as the reference, the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the risk of death were 0.80, 0.67-0.95 (intermediate) and 0.66, 0.52-0.84 (abundant) for men. The association was insignificant in women with good health. The results show that leisure participation predicts survival in middle-aged Finnish men and its effect is independent of demographic features, of health status and of several other health-related factors. The beneficial effect emphasizes the significance of leisure activities for the promotion of men's health.

Associations of self-rated health with different forms of leisure activities among ageing people

“…Associations have been found between self-rated health and membership in voluntary associations, 2 associational activity and religious involvement, [3][4][5] volunteer and increased volunteer hours, 6 social engagement (a cumulative index of social activities), 7 participation in clubs and associations, 5 and participation in group activities assessed by whether people attended a church service, charity group, sports club, self-help group or other local activity at least once a month. 8 Moreover, also high religious involvement, 9,10 leisure participation (the sum score of social, cultural, and religious activities), 11 and attendance at some specific cultural attributes 12 have been shown to predict survival. Leisure activities have also been linked to various physical and mental health outcomes.…”

“…Consequently, the effects of leisure participation on health should be studied separately for men and women. 11 Only a few studies have, so far, focused on exploring the association between self-rated health and leisure activities among ageing people. [5][6][7][8] Especially the use of varying and multiple indicators of leisure activities simultaneously has been rare.…”

The role of cultural involvement of patients for their social welfare

“…Culture is between those methods. Actually, in modern society cultural usage for the health and QoL purpose increases rapidly [2][3][4][5]. Moreover, culture is not only a measure to reach better QoL, but it is also a component of QoL.…”

Country-Level Investment in Cultural Opportunity Structures. A Potential Source of Health Differences Between 21 European Countries

“…Among the positive influences are certain biomedical determinants of health, such as blood pressure, adrenaline, or prolactin levels (Konlaan 2001;Staricoff 2004). However, populations with more community participation have been shown to have better health and longer life expectancy than those with less participation (Hyyppä and Mäki 2001), also after controlling for lifestyle and health risk factors (Cuypers et al 2012;Hyyppä et al 2006). Naturally, the direction of the association may also be reversed, because a sufficient level of health and physical and psychosocial functioning is needed to enable participation.…”