Premium
Personality and Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome
Author(s) -
Stephan Yannick,
Sutin Angelina R.,
Canada Brice,
Terracciano Antonio
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.16282
Subject(s) - conscientiousness , medicine , odds ratio , extraversion and introversion , agreeableness , neuroticism , dementia , big five personality traits , cognitive decline , personality , body mass index , confidence interval , gerontology , psychiatry , clinical psychology , psychology , disease , social psychology
OBJECTIVES To examine whether five major personality traits are related to the motoric cognitive risk (MCR) syndrome, a pre‐dementia syndrome characterized by cognitive complaints and slow gait speed. DESIGN Cross‐sectional. SETTING Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the National Health and Aging Trends Survey (NHATS). PARTICIPANTS Dementia‐free older adults aged 65 to 107 years (N > 8000). MEASUREMENTS In both samples, participants provided data on personality, cognitive complaints, and measures of gait speed, as well as on demographic factors, physical activity, depressive symptoms, and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS Across the two samples and a meta‐analysis, higher neuroticism was related to higher risk of MCR (combined odds ratio [OR] = 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21‐1.45; P < .001), whereas higher extraversion (combined OR = .71; 95% CI = .65‐.79; P < .001) and conscientiousness (combined OR = .70; 95% CI = .62‐.78; P < .001) were associated with a lower likelihood of MCR. Higher openness was also related to a lower risk of MCR in the HRS and the meta‐analysis (combined OR = .77; 95% CI = .70‐.85; P < .001), whereas agreeableness was protective only in the HRS (OR = .83; 95% CI = .74‐.92; P < .001). Additional analyses indicated that physical activity, depressive symptoms, and BMI partially accounted for these associations. CONCLUSION This study adds to existing research on the factors related to the risk of MCR by showing an association with personality traits. Personality assessment may help to identify individuals who may be targeted by interventions focused on reducing the risk of MCR and ultimately of dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:803–808, 2020