Art Engagement and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Evidence From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Objectives: To examine the prospective association between art engagement and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Methods: Adults aged ≥50 from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing were asked about the frequency of art engagement, including going to the cinema, the art gallery or museum, and the theatre, a concert, or the opera. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the risk of type 2 diabetes associated with art engagement. Results: During a median follow-up of 12.2 years, we identified 350 cases of type 2 diabetes from 4,064 participants through interviews. After multivariable adjustment, compared with people who never went to the cinema, those going to the cinema frequently had a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (HR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.44–0.86). After further adjustment for socioeconomic factors, the association was slightly attenuated but remained statistically significant (HR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.46–0.92). Similar results were found for going to the theatre, a concert, or the opera. Conclusion: Frequent art engagement may be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, which was independent of individuals’ socioeconomic factors.