Personality traits affect individual interests in day service activities.

AIM

To assess the association of user interest in various activities with personality traits for the provision of activity programs at adult day centers.

METHODS

A self-reported questionnaire survey of service users was conducted at 25 day centers in Tokyo; 133 men and 344 women, with a mean age of 81.6 +/- 7.9 years, responded. The questionnaire examined their demographics, lifestyles, requested activities, purpose of activity participation, attitudes toward participation, and personality traits by using the BASIC-3 Personality Inventory (PI)-short version.

RESULTS

The participants with higher sociability and novelty-seeking scores on the BASIC-3 PI-short version requested significantly more activities than those with lower scores. Music appreciation and singing were significantly associated with both sociability and novelty-seeking facets. The sociability facets were significantly associated with activities, such as walking and interaction with children, while the novelty-seeking facets were significantly associated with contact with animals and the Internet. There was no significant relationship between the neuroticism facets and any specific activity. Flower arrangement, handicrafts, fashion or make up, cooking, and singing were significantly more frequently requested by the women than by the men, while shogi or mahjong was requested significantly more frequently by the men than by the women.

CONCLUSIONS

Sociability and novelty-seeking facets, sex, and age were significantly associated with an interest in particular activities. We recommend that adult day centers create a system under which nurses and formal caregivers fully assess the elderly in order to provide activity programs based on user needs.