A cross-sectional study on relationships between musical activities and quality of life in Japanese older adults

This study aimed to examine the association between musical activities and quality of life in older adults using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: background variables, quality of life variables (measured from two aspects: appreciation of life and life-ability of the person), and musical activity variables (frequency of engagement in musical activities, perceived importance of musical activities, motivation for acquiring musical skills and knowledge, and self-efficacy regarding musical skills and knowledge). It was sent to 525 people aged 60 to 98 years who were enrolled in two Silver Human Resource Centers in Tokyo. We found a significant correlation between almost all the musical activity variables and the quality of life measures: the trend was consistent even after controlling for background variables. The results indicated that both the frequency of involvement in musical activities and the mindset toward musical skills and potency were associated with quality of life. The strength of this study is that the association between quality of life and various musical aspects-both frequency of participation and psychological aspects of musical activities-was explored within the same research design, which is the first to be carried out solely with older adults.