Objectives: This study examined associations between self-rated health and specific forms of leisure activities - i. e. singing in a choir, art painting, playing music; art exhibitions, theatre, movies, concerts; religious events; studying and self-development; voluntary work - and investigated how confounding factors contribute to these associations among ageing people in Finland.
Methods: A postal survey was conducted in 2002 among men and women born in 1926-30, 1936-40 and 1946-50. The final 2,815 participants represented 66% of the original sample drawn, stratified by age, gender, and municipality. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate associations between specific forms of leisure activities and self-rated health.
Results: Going to art exhibitions, theatre, movies, and concerts among women and studying and self-development among men were significantly positively related to self-rated health, even after adjusting for socioeconomic status (SES), other sociodemographic variables, obesity, and health behaviours. Among women, active participation in religious events and voluntary work were negatively associated with self-rated health.
Conclusions: The association of leisure activities and good self-rated health may differ for genders due to their nature or meaning. Partial support was found for the assumption that leisure activities go together with better self-rated health among ageing people.