title: Associations between daily musicking and health: Results from a nationwide survey in Denmark.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the associations between singing/playing musical instruments daily and various outcomes such as health-related quality of life and health behaviour.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data originates from the Danish Health and Morbidity Survey 2013. The survey was based on a random sample of 25,000 adult Danes (response rate: 57%). Besides standard health-related questions the survey included eight specific music questions, based on a review of the sparse literature on music and health. On the same basis, 'daily musicking' was defined as normally singing/playing musical instruments at least 1 h/day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both musically active men and women were more likely to report good self-rated health than individuals that were not active musically. However, the results also indicated that musically active women were less likely to report poor physical and mental health than women who were not active musically, while this pattern was not found among men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gender seems to play an important role in the association between musicking and health, but more research is needed to understand these differences and the underlying mechanisms. In addition, longitudinal studies are warranted to examine the causal effects of musicking.
authors.affiliation: 1 National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ekholm
authors.affiliation: 1 National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Knud
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Juel
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lars Ole
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Bonde
keywords: Singing; cross-sectional study; health behaviour; mental health; music; surveys and questionnaires