India, July 26 -- Higher levels of cultural engagement are significantly associated with lower physiological ageing, suggests an analysis published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Ageing is universal but not everyone experiences it in the same way. A person's physiological age - a measure that reflects how well the body functions - can be different from their chronological age.

Cultural engagement, such as going to the cinema, museum, or theatre, has been widely associated with improved health outcomes and enhanced well-being amongst older adults.

But few studies have directly looked at the relationship between cultural engagement and physiological ageing or related markers.

They analysed data on 1899 adult...