2001 Volume 16 Issue 2 Pages 131-138
This study investigated the influence of personality type on the difficulty of denture usage by the dependent elderly with dementia.
The participants were edentulous individuals (71 in total: 15 males and 56 females; average age, 85.0±5.9 years) resident in a health care facility for the elderly. They were subjected to a series of examinations regarding; a) their daily use of complete dentures; b) their degree of dementia by HDS-R test; and c) their personality types as judged by a third party observer. A version of the YGpsychological test as modified by the author was used for the personality type assessments.
In summary, the results were as follows:
1. The frequency of complete denture usage was 100 % among those participants who did not have dementia, and 62.3 % among those with dementia. This difference was statistically significant.
2. The HDS-R score of those who did not wear dentures was significantly lower (4.8) than that of those who did (14.2).
3. The percentage of participants with dementia categorized as possessing type A (average) personality was higher than that of the population without dementia, and their specific characteristics tended to be uncooperative-ness and emotional instability (Co: Territory 4).
4. It seemed that the participants who wore dentures daily were more interested in, and sensitive to, the condition of their dentures compared with those who did not wear their dentures on a daily basis. Conversely, participants who did not wear dentures daily appeared to be less active in their daily lives due to more advanced degrees of dementia, and were thus less interested in their dentures.
