Is interest in art effective in health-related quality of life? Results of a cross-sectional survey on lifestyle and health promotion.

The objective of this survey was to examine whether lifestyle and health practices can change the health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and how much weight should be placed on each item. A cross-sectional survey by self-administered questionnaires using the SF-36 and questions of our own on lifestyle was conducted in Japan on November 5 to 7, 1999. Volunteers consisted of 147 men and 152 women over 20 years of age. Gender, age, living alone, and lifestyle items such as eating breakfast, regular sleep, and drinking alcohol were significantly associated with the SF-36 profiles. The trends corresponded to those obtained with the previous studies conducted in other countries. Interest in art and regular sleep showed the highest significance (P<0.001) in MANCOVA of eight domains. From the results of multiple regression analysis, drinking alcohol and regular sleep was closely related to physical health status. In the mental component summary and related domains, the important factors were regularity of sleep, not living alone, eating breakfast, interest in art, and drinking alcohol. We concluded that the SF-36 is an appropriate measure to determine effects of lifestyle improvement and assess health promotion programs.