Towards recommendations for arts and health evaluation: a two-part review of Quality of Life scales used in mental health and arts research
7 affiliations
- 1Centre for Music and Health, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore
- 2Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- 3Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
- 4Health and Social Sciences Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology
- 5Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, National University of Singapore
- 6Jameel Arts & Health Lab, New York University
- 7Yeo Boon Khim Mind Science Centre, National University of Singapore
Abstract
There is increasing integration of the arts in public health, particularly in relation to Quality of Life (QoL). In health research and practice, QoL provides a broad snapshot of how an individual is faring - their subjective perception of how their life is in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. To support more rigorous evaluation of arts and health interventions, this two-part review assesses the most widely used QoL scales, provides recommendations on scale adoption, and examines their frequency of use across arts domains. The first part of our review systematically identifies the most widely used QoL scales for the general adult population across the psychiatry, psychology, and mental health literature. According to our literature review, the top four scales for assessing QoL are: Euro-QoL (EQ-5D-3L/5L), SF-36, WHOQOL-BREF, and SF-12, with EQ-5D most frequently used in the target literature. The second part examines the scales’ frequency across 18 art domains, drawn from a broader set of arts domains from the literature. SF-36 is the most commonly used QoL scale for evaluating arts interventions, followed by WHOQOL-BREF, SF-12, and EQ-5D. Music accounts for the largest number of publications involving a QoL scale, while literary festivals and electronic arts interventions yielded the fewest publications.
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BibTeX
@article{liu2026towards,
title = {{Towards recommendations for arts and health evaluation: a two-part review of Quality of Life scales used in mental health and arts research}},
author = {Abielle Shao Hua Liu and Raeanne Chien Yin Wong and Renick Daryl Liebin Lee and Jean C. J. Liu and Nisha Sajnani and Kat R. Agres},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1933623},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1933623/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Towards recommendations for arts and health evaluation: a two-part review of Quality of Life scales used in mental health and arts research
AU - Abielle Shao Hua Liu
AU - Raeanne Chien Yin Wong
AU - Renick Daryl Liebin Lee
AU - Jean C. J. Liu
AU - Nisha Sajnani
AU - Kat R. Agres
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1933623
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1933623/full
AB - There is increasing integration of the arts in public health, particularly in relation to Quality of Life (QoL). In health research and practice, QoL provides a broad snapshot of how an individual is faring - their subjective perception of how their life is in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. To support more rigorous evaluation of arts and health interventions, this two-part review assesses the most widely used QoL scales, provides recommendations on scale adoption, and examines their frequency of use across arts domains. The first part of our review systematically identifies the most widely used QoL scales for the general adult population across the psychiatry, psychology, and mental health literature. According to our literature review, the top four scales for assessing QoL are: Euro-QoL (EQ-5D-3L/5L), SF-36, WHOQOL-BREF, and SF-12, with EQ-5D most frequently used in the target literature. The second part examines the scales’ frequency across 18 art domains, drawn from a broader set of arts domains from the literature. SF-36 is the most commonly used QoL scale for evaluating arts interventions, followed by WHOQOL-BREF, SF-12, and EQ-5D. Music accounts for the largest number of publications involving a QoL scale, while literary festivals and electronic arts interventions yielded the fewest publications.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -