Personality Traits as Predictors of Decline in Higher-Level Functional Capacity over a 7-Year Follow-Up in Older Adults: The Ohasama Study

Abstract

Numerous factors that affect functional decline have been identified, and personality traits are considered to be an important factor in functional decline risk. The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (TMIG) was developed to measure three higher-level functional capacities, instrumental activities of daily living, intellectual activity, and social roles, in Japanese elderly, which were previously not assessed adequately with existing scales of functional decline. The objective of this study was to explore the effect of personality traits as predictors of higher-level functional decline over a 7-year follow-up in a rural Japanese community. Data on 676 participants (mean 67.1 years) who were free of functional decline and had completed questionnaires at baseline and 7 years later, were analyzed. Demographic characteristics, lifestyle and personality characteristics were obtained from a self-administered questionnaire at baseline. Higher-level functional decline was examined using the subscales of the TMIG at baseline and at a 7-year follow-up examination. Over the 7-year study period, 21.7% of eligible participants reported decline in higher-level functional capacity. After adjustment for putative confounding factors, the traits that were significant predictors of decline in higher-level functional capacity at the 7-year follow-up had higher psychoticism scores [odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 2.12 (1.23-3.66)] and lower extraversion scores [1.89 (1.01-3.56)]. The personality traits of higher psychoticism and lower extraversion were significantly associated with a risk of future functional decline. A better understanding of these personality traits may help identify of at-risk individuals and could help reduce functional decline in older adults.

Personality factors in the elderly: The relationship between cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms

“…Such a result indicates that the higher the neuroticism indices are, the stronger the depressive symptomatology is in the elderly. It corroborates the findings of other studies (Ayotte et al, 2009;Koorevaar et al, 2013;Tsubota-Utsugi et al, 2014;Weiss et al, 2009). Neuroticism, besides being a risk factor to trigger depression, represents a risk for functional decline among the elderly in the future (Tsubota-Utsugi et al, 2014) and it is associated to Alzheimer's Disease (Terracciano et al, 2014).…”

“…It corroborates the findings of other studies (Ayotte et al, 2009;Koorevaar et al, 2013;Tsubota-Utsugi et al, 2014;Weiss et al, 2009). Neuroticism, besides being a risk factor to trigger depression, represents a risk for functional decline among the elderly in the future (Tsubota-Utsugi et al, 2014) and it is associated to Alzheimer's Disease (Terracciano et al, 2014). Some studies state the hypothesis that Neuroticism is related to reduced brain volume (Knutson, Momenan, Rawlings, Fong, & Hommer, 2001) and to risk behaviors to health such as metabolic syndrome, early mortality (Löckenhoff et al, 2012), and inflammation (Sutin et al, 2010).…”

“…Other studies (Ayotte et al, 2009;Koorevaar et al, 2013;Tsubota-Utsugi et al, 2014;Weiss et al, 2009) corroborate this finding and indicate that different combinations of the Big Five Factors of personality, along with the high Neuroticism indices, would be the risk factors for depression in the elderly. The study by Koorevaar et al (2013) found a relationship between Neuroticism scores and Conscientiousness and Extroversion as risk factors for depression in elderly.…”

The effect of modifiable healthy practices on higher-level functional capacity decline among Japanese community dwellers

“…In previous studies among Japanese subjects, physical activity or physical ability (Nakamoto et al, 2015, Sugiura et al, 2013), social capital (engagement in a cohesive group) (Kondo et al, 2007), self-rated health (Sugiura et al, 2011), and personality traits of lower psychoticism and higher extraversion (Tsubota-Utsugi et al, 2014) were significantly associated with higher levels of competence. These results indicate not only physical or social activity but also current health are associated with future competence, and subjects with higher extraversion tend to decide to and have healthier practices (Tsubota-Utsugi et al, 2014).…”

“…Among these factors, higher physical activity or physical ability, such as handgrip strength or walking speed, were associated with higher levels of competence (Nakamoto et al, 2015, Sugiura et al, 2013). Although a few investigations have reported the negative effects of smoking, longer sleep duration, poor self-rated health, lower animal protein intake, personality traits, and lower social participation on higher levels of competence (Imai et al, 2014, Tomioka et al, 2015, Tsubota-Utsugi et al, 2014), the impact of other lifestyle-related factors on loss of higher levels of competence is not well understood. In addition, it is not clear whether an accumulation of healthy lifestyle-related factors within individuals, as measured by the total number of healthy practices, is associated with higher levels of competence.…”