# Cultural Engagement Is Related to Decelerated Physiological Age: Doubly Robust Estimations in a National Cohort Study

## TL;DR

Regular cultural activities like attending performances and museums are linked to slower aging in older adults, according to a national study.

## Contribution

This study shows that cultural engagement is associated with reduced physiological age over time in older adults.

## Key findings

- Cultural engagement was linked to lower physiological age at baseline and 4 and 8 years later.
- The effect was consistent across all types of cultural activities examined.
- Results were robust to sensitivity analyses on confounding and outliers.

## Abstract

Cultural engagement (e.g., going to live music events and theater performances, museums, galleries and exhibitions, and the cinema) is longitudinally associated in repeated epidemiological studies with age‐related mental and physical health outcomes. However, it is unclear whether it also influences how fast older adults age physiologically—so‐called age acceleration. This study aimed to ascertain whether regular cultural engagement among older adults is related to slower physiological aging using a previously derived physiological age index and a doubly robust estimation approach to account for confounders. Using older adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (n = 4467), we found that cultural engagement was related to lower physiological age cross‐sectionally (average treatment effect −2.17; 95% CI −3.48 to −0.86) and 4 and 8 years later. The effect was seen consistently for all three types of cultural activity explored (cultural performances, museums/exhibitions, and the cinema). These analyses were robust to multiple sensitivity analyses, including considering alternative confounding structures, outliers, and treatment specification. Overall, these findings provide insight into how cultural engagement may be related to processes of aging.

Cultural engagement (including going to cultural performances, museums/exhibitions, and the cinema) is related to age‐related mental and physical health outcomes, but it is unclear if it influences age acceleration. Using older adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (n = 4467), we found cultural engagement was related to lower physiological age cross‐sectionally and 4 and 8 years later.