Focus on Leisure Repertoire in the Oldest Old: The Umeå 85+ Study

Abstract

This study elucidates the oldest olds’ leisure repertoire and how this repertoire varies due to gender, where they live, and cognitive status. A validated 20-item leisure interest checklist with four subscales was used to measure leisure participation and investigate the leisure repertoire among participants. The oldest old were most likely to be interested in, perform, be motivated for, and perceive well-being from social activities, cultural activities, and TV/video/movies. The respondents were least likely to be interested in, perform, be motivated for, and perceive well-being from equipment sports and ball games. Some gender, geographic differences, and differences in cognitive status were found. The oldest old were more likely to endorse the same activities across all subscales of the checklist, but the linear magnitude varied across sub-scales. The relationships between performance and the other subscales suggested that a sense of engagement or participation is related to actual performance.