Association between engagement in cultural activities and use of general practitioner consultations: 7-year follow-up of adults from the HUNT study, Norway.

OBJECTIVE: Assess whether engagement in a range of cultural activities, both 'passive' and 'active' (ie, receptive and creative) participation, is associated with later demand for general practitioner (GP) consultations.

DESIGN: Longitudinal prospective cohort study.

SETTING: Data from the population-based the third Survey of Trøndelag Health Study (2006-2008) in Norway was linked to an administrative register including service information from all GP offices nationwide.

PARTICIPANTS: This study included 17 396 (54.6%) women and 14 451 (45.4%) men aged 30-79 years.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Multilevel negative binomial regression models assessed the relationship between cultural engagement and GP consultations, and reported as rate ratios.

RESULTS: A mean of 3.57 GP visits per patient was recorded during the 7 years of follow-up. Participation in creative activities and a combination of both receptive and creative activities was associated with lower number of GP consultation. Gender-specific analyses suggest that these effects were attributable to men. The rate ratio of GP consultations among men taking part in creative activities less than once, twice and more than twice (<9 times) per week is 0.90, 0.89 and 0.87 times lower, respectively, compared with non-participants. Whereas weekly frequency of receptive and creative activity engagement showed a 0.92, 0.87 and 0.83 times lower rate ratio among engaged men. The variety of activities shows a similar pattern and participation in creative activities lowers the rate ratio among men. Engagement in a wide range/variety of activities, compared with non-engagement, was associated with lower numbers of GP consultations in men, but not women.

CONCLUSIONS: Engagement in creative or combined receptive and creative cultural activities was associated with lower numbers of GP consultations among men. Thus, facilitating and promoting a culturally engaged lifestyle, particularly in men, may affect primary healthcare use. However, this study design gives no evidence of a causal relationship between cultural engagement and use of GP consultations.