Personality and Falls Among Older Adults: Evidence From a Longitudinal Cohort

Qualities of Older Adults' Family and Friendship Relationships and Their Association with Life Satisfaction

While family and friendship relationship qualities are associated with life satisfaction, evidence on how these types of relationships interact to contribute to older adults' life satisfaction is sparse. This study examined how family and friendship relationship qualities may be supportive of (compensatory) or conflict with (competing) older adults' life satisfaction. We adopted a cross-sectional design to analyze data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 1178, females = 54.8%, mean age = 67.9 years, SD = 9.3 years) to examine compensatory (as in social support) and competing (as in social strain) qualities of family and friendship social relationships and their association with life satisfaction in older adults. For greater explanatory power, we also controlled for life satisfaction by sociodemographic variables of age, gender, education, self-reported general health, physical health and activity, depression, and personality traits. Our findings indicate that the spouse/partner support relationship contributes to older adults' life satisfaction overall and is associated with greater social support and less social strain. Friendship support is associated with improved life satisfaction for older adults reporting spouse/partner strain. Relationship support for the life satisfaction of older adults should consider their need for social support from their social network while minimizing the risk of social strain from adversarial relationships in life situations.

Personality traits and the risk of urinary incontinence: Evidence from three longitudinal samples

OBJECTIVE

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common condition with a substantial negative impact on older adults' quality of life. This study examines whether individual differences in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional traits assessed by the five major dimensions of personality are related to the risk of concurrent and incident UI.

METHODS

Participants were older women and men (N > 26,000) from the Midlife in the United States Survey, the Health and Retirement Study, and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging. In each cohort, personality traits (measured with the Midlife Development Inventory) and demographic (age, sex, education, and race), clinical (body mass index, diabetes, blood pressure), and behavioral (smoking) factors were assessed at baseline. UI was assessed at baseline and again 8-20 years later. Results for each cohort were combined in random-effect meta-analyses.

RESULTS

Consistently across cohorts, higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness were related to a higher risk of concurrent and incident UI. To a lesser extent, extraversion, openness, and agreeableness were also related to lower risk of concurrent and incident UI. BMI, diabetes, blood pressure, and smoking partially accounted for these associations. There was little evidence that age or sex moderated the associations.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study provides novel, robust, and replicable evidence linking personality traits to UI. The higher vulnerability for UI for individuals who score higher on neuroticism and lower on conscientiousness is consistent with findings for other multifactorial geriatric syndromes. Personality traits can help identify individuals at risk and may help contextualize the clinical presentation of comorbid emotional, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms.

Exploring the relationship between falls, fall-related psychological concerns, and personality traits in adults: A scoping review protocol

Background and Aims

Personality traits, such as neuroticism and extraversion, are emerging as important predictors of falls. Despite their significance, existing fall prevention programs often overlook these traits, creating a notable research gap. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive scoping review to explore the existing literature on the relationships among personality traits, falls, and fall-related psychological concerns (FrPCs).

Methods

This scoping review will adhere to the framework established by Arksey and O'Malley, incorporating extensions recommended by the Joanna Briggs Institute and using the PRISMA-ScR checklist. A thorough search strategy will be employed, aligning with the population, concept, and context (PCC) selection criteria. Electronic databases, including MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus, will be searched from their inception to the present. Additionally, a manual search of the reference lists of identified and relevant full-text articles will be conducted. Two independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts, perform full-text reviews, and extract data from pertinent articles.

Discussion

Personality traits are increasingly recognized as influential predictors of falls and related psychological concerns. This review aims to make a substantial contribution to the existing literature by being the first to comprehensively explore and provide a descriptive synthesis of the relationship between personality traits and falls, as well as FrPCs in adults. It is hoped that the outcomes of this review will enhance our comprehension of the role of personality traits in falls, potentially informing future research and strategies for this critical area of study.

Scoping Review Registration

This scoping review protocol was registered with Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/KR74X).

Purpose in Life and Risk of Falls: A Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional and Prospective Associations

Background and Aim: Purpose in life is an aspect of well-being that is associated with better health outcomes in older adulthood. We examine the association between purpose in life and likelihood of a recent fall and risk of an incident fall over time. Methods: Purpose in life and falls were reported concurrently and falls were reported again up to 16 years later in four established longitudinal studies of older adults (total N = 25,418). Results: A random-effects meta-analysis of the four samples indicated that purpose was associated with a 14% lower likelihood of having fallen recently at baseline (meta-analytic OR = 0.88, 95% CI [0.84-0.92]). Among participants who reported no falls at baseline (N = 15,632), purpose was associated with a nearly 10% lower risk of an incident fall over the up to 16-year follow-up (meta-analytic HR = 0.92, 95% CI [0.90-0.94]). These associations were independent of age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education, were not moderated by these factors, and persisted controlling for physical activity and disease burden. Conclusion and Recommendations: Purpose in life is a meaningful aspect of well-being that may be useful to identify individuals at risk for falling, particularly among individuals without traditional risk factors, and be a target of intervention to reduce fall risk.

The relationship between fall and loneliness among older people in China: the mediating role of personality trait

Aims

We aimed to explore the role of personality traits between fall and loneliness.

Methods

A questionnaire survey was used to investigate falls, the big five personality traits, and loneliness among older people (≥ 60 years old) in China mainland.

Results

A total of 4,289 older people participated in the survey. There are significant differences in age, marital status, education level, residence, solitariness, and fall in relation to loneliness among older people. Falls, especially when they occurred one time increase the loneliness of older people. Agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were significant mediating effects between falls and loneliness.

Conclusion

This study implied that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were meditating factors between falls and loneliness. In the future, we should consider the big five personality traits more to understand loneliness and offer older people interventions for reducing their loneliness. The study design was cross-sectional, so the temporal precedence of mediators and causality could not be tested. Because the data were collected retrospectively, current loneliness is likely to have confounding effects on retrospective recall.

Longitudinal Associations Between Disaster Damage and Falls/Fear of Falling in Older Adults: 9-Year Follow-Up of Survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Background and Objectives

Fear of falling and falls are common in older adults. However, their associations with natural disaster exposures remain poorly understood. This study aims to examine longitudinal associations between disaster damage with fear of falling/falls among older disaster survivors.

Research Design and Methods

In this natural experiment study, the baseline survey (4,957 valid responses) took place 7 months before the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and 3 follow-ups were conducted in 2013, 2016, and 2020. Exposures were different types of disaster damage and community social capital. Outcomes were fear of falling and falls (including incident and recurrent falls). We used lagged outcomes in logistic models adjusting for covariates and further examined instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) as a mediator.

Results

The baseline sample had a mean (standard deviation) age of 74.8 (7.1) years; 56.4% were female. Financial hardship was associated with fear of falling (odds ratio (OR), 1.75; 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.33, 2.28]) and falls (OR, 1.29; 95% CI [1.05, 1.58]), especially recurrent falls (OR, 3.53; 95% CI [1.90, 6.57]). Relocation was inversely linked with fear of falling (OR, 0.57; 95% CI [0.34, 0.94]). Social cohesion was protectively associated with fear of falling (OR, 0.82; 95% CI [0.71, 0.95]) and falls (OR, 0.88; 95% CI [0.78, 0.98]) whereas social participation increased the risk of these issues. IADL partially mediated observed associations between disaster damage and fear of falling/falls.

Discussion and Implications

Experiences of material damage rather than psychological trauma were associated with falls and fear of falling, and the increased risk of recurrent falls revealed a process of cumulative disadvantage. Findings could inform targeted strategies for protecting older disaster survivors.

The Nebulous Association between Cognitive Impairment and Falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review of the Literature

BACKGROUND

In older people, dementia is a well-established risk factor for falls. However, the association and the causal relationship between falls and the earlier stages of cognitive impairment remains unclear. The purpose of the study was to review the literature data on the association between falls and cognitive impairment, no dementia, including Mild Cognitive Impairment.

METHODS

According to PRISMA guidelines, we searched five electronic databases (EMBASE, Web of Science, Medline, CINAHL, and PsychINFO) for articles published between January 2011 and August 2022 on observational studies of older people with a cognitive assessment and/or cognitive impairment diagnosis and a recording of falls. Their quality was reviewed according to the STROBE checklist.

RESULTS

We selected 42 of the 4934 initially retrieved publications. In 24 retrospective studies, a statistically significant association between falls and cognitive status was found in only 15 of the 32 comparisons (47%). Of the 27 cross-sectional analyses in prospective studies, only eight (30%) were positive and significant. We counted four longitudinal analyses, half of which suggested a causal relationship between falls and cognitive impairment. The investigational methods varied markedly from one study to another.

CONCLUSION

It is still not clear whether falls are associated with cognitive impairment, no dementia. Data in favor of a causal relationship are scarce. Further studies are needed to clarify their relationship.

Association between changes in depressive symptoms and hip fracture among middle-aged and older Chinese individuals: a prospective cohort study

Background

Although studies have shown that depressive symptoms are associated with an increased risk of hip fracture (HF). Depressive symptoms are dynamic, and it is unclear whether HF risk persists if depressive symptoms remit. This study aims to examine the associations between changes in depressive symptoms and HF risk.

Methods

Data were from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study from 2011 to 2018. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studied Depression scale (cutoff ≥ 10). Changes in depressive symptoms were classified into four groups by two successive surveys (stable low/no, recent-onset, recently remitted, and stable high depressive symptoms). Multivariable logistic regressions were performed to assess whether changes in depressive symptoms were associated with HF incidents reported through 2018, adjusting for age, sex, educational level, marital status and other potential confounding factors.

Results

In total, 8574 participants were included, 265 (3.1%) of whom had reported HF incidents in the subsequent 5-year period. Participants with recent-onset (OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.40–2.77) or stable high (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.53–3.02) symptoms had a higher risk of HF than those with stable low/no depressive symptoms, whereas those with improved depressive symptoms (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 0.89–1.82) had no elevation in HF risk.

Conclusion

Stable high and recent-onset depressive symptoms were associated with increased HF risk, and no elevated HF risk was observed if symptoms remitted, suggesting that strategies to reduce depressive symptoms may be beneficial for HF prevention.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-03484-8.

Impact of socioeconomic status and health risk on fall inequality among older adults

Socio-economic status (SES) is one of the important indicators reflecting individual social participation and resource allocation, and it plays an important role in individual health shock. Health shock indicates the body being in a non-healthy state, such as illness, injury and death. This study used data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study conducted in 2013, 2015 and 2018 and utilised the panel logit model, causal step-by-step analysis and path analysis to empirically test the impact of SES on fall inequality among the elderly and the mediating effect of health shock. The results demonstrated obvious group inequality in the fall risk among older adults, the core of which was the impact of SES on health, causing health inequality and affecting fall inequality. The activities of daily living and pain rate of the high-income group were 61.16% and 28.69%, respectively, that of the low-income group. The evaluation of good sight and hearing were 3.6833 and 3.8572 times, respectively, that of the low-income group. The non-depressive status was 38.4638 times of the low-income group. The path effect confirmed the mediating role of health shock. Therefore, this study concluded that SES had an important impact on the risk of falls among the elderly, and this impact was mainly from health shock. This study proposed that to reduce the incidence of falls among the elderly, differences in health shock risks among the elderly with different SES must be actively monitored and accurate and effective policy interventions should be implemented from the level of group heterogeneity.

Falling into an identity crisis: Integrating identity into the assessment and management of falls in older adults

OBJECTIVES

This article examines the psychological effects of falls for older adults through the lens of identity and suggests these may be integrated in the assessment and management of older patients within acute care and rehabilitation settings post-fall. An illustrative vignette is described to demonstrate this approach.

CONCLUSION

Falls in older adults are complex phenomena which can lead to an identity threat, sometimes manifest as psychological symptoms and poor engagement in post-fall rehabilitation. A psychiatric formulation which incorporates an older person's self-identity and agency may inform interventions to address psychological and behavioural sequelae of falls.

Subjective Age and Falls in Older Age: Evidence from two Longitudinal Cohorts

OBJECTIVES

Falls are a common and serious health problem. The present study examined the association between subjective age (i.e., feeling younger or older than one's chronological age) and falls in two large national samples.

METHOD

Participants, aged 65 to 105 years old, were drawn from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Data on falls, subjective age, demographic factors, was available from 2,382 participants in HRS and 3,449 in NHATS. Falls were tracked for up to 8 (HRS) and 7 (NHATS) years.

RESULTS

Cox regression analyses that included demographic covariates indicated that older subjective age increased the risk of falling in HRS (hazard ratio [HR]=1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.08-1.27), and in NHATS (HR=1.06, 95%CI=1.00-1.13). When compared to people who felt younger, people who reported an older subjective age had a higher risk of fall (HRS: HR=1.65, 95% CI=1.33-2.04; NHATS: HR=1.44, 95% CI=1.15-1.79). The associations remained significant after accounting for depressive symptoms, handgrip strength, chronic diseases, and cognitive impairment in HRS only.

DISCUSSION

These results confirm the role of subjective age as an important health marker in the aging population. Subjective age assessment can help identify individuals at greater risk of falls.

Socioeconomic status and ADL disability of the older adults: Cumulative health effects, social outcomes and impact mechanisms

INTRODUCTION

Socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the important indicators affecting individual's social participation and resource allocation, and it also plays an important role in the health shock of individuals. Faced by the trend of aging society, more and more nations across the world began to pay attention to prevent the risk of health shock of old adults.

METHODS

Based on the data of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2013, 2015 and 2018, this study uses path analysis and ologit model to empirically estimate the effects of SES and health shock on the activities of daily living (ADL) disability of old adults.

RESULTS

As a result, first, it was found that SES has significant impact on the disability of old adults. Specifically, economic conditions (income) plays dominant role. Economic status affects the risk of individual disability mainly through life security and health behavior. Secondly, SES significantly affecting health shock, with education and economic status showing remarkable impact, and there is an apparent group inequality. Furthermore, taking high education group as reference, the probability of good sight or hearing ability of the low education group was only 49.76% and 63.29% of the high education group, respectively, while the rates of no pain and severe illness were 155.50% and 54.69% of the high education group. At last, the estimation of path effect of SES on ADL disability indicates evident group inequality, with health shock plays critical mediating role.

CONCLUSIONS

SES is an important factor influencing residents' health shock, and health shocks like cerebral thrombosis and cerebral hemorrhage will indirectly lead to the risk of individual ADL disability. Furthermore, among the multi-dimensional indicators of SES, individual income and education are predominant factors affecting health shock and ADL disability, while occupation of pre-retirement have little impact.

Longitudinal association between personality traits and homebound status in older adults: results from the National Health and Aging Trends Study

Background

Personality is associated with predictors of homebound status like frailty, incident falls, mobility, and depression. However, the relationship between personality traits and homebound status is unclear. This study aims to examine the longitudinal association between personality traits and homebound status among older adults.

Methods

Using data of non-homebound community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older in the 2013 and 2014 waves (baseline) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (N = 1538), this study examined the association between personality traits and homebound status. Homebound status (non-homebound, semi-homebound, and homebound) was determined by the frequency of going outside, difficulty in going outside, and whether there was help when going outside. Personality traits, including conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, openness, and agreeableness were assessed using the 10-item Midlife Development Inventory on a rating scale from 1 (not at all) to 4 (a lot). Ordered logistic regression models were used to examine whether personality traits predicted homebound status in later 3 years with and without adjusting covariates.

Results

The sample was on average 77.0 ± 6.70 years old, and 55% were female. The majority were non-Hispanic whites (76%), and received some college or vocational school education or higher (55%). Homebound participants tended to be less educated older females. Three years later, 42 of 1538 baseline-non-homebound participants (3%) became homebound, and 195 participants (13%) became semi-homebound. Among these five personality traits, high conscientiousness (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.73, p < 0.01) was associated with a low likelihood of becoming homebound after adjusting demographic and health-related covariates.

Conclusions

These findings provided a basis for personality assessment to identify and prevent individuals from becoming homebound.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-02771-8.

Associations of neuroticism with falls in older adults: do psychological factors mediate the association?

OBJECTIVES

Neuroticism predicts falls in older people. In addition, concern about falling and depressive symptoms are associated with fall risk. This study examined whether concern about falling and depressive symptoms mediate the association between neuroticism and falls.

METHOD

Cross-sectional data on 314 community-dwelling people aged 70-85 years were utilized. Neuroticism was assessed with a short modified form of the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Indoor and outdoor falls during the past year were self-reported. Concern about falling was assessed with the Falls Efficacy Scale-International and depressive symptoms with the Geriatric Depression Scale-15. Path modeling was used to examine the associations between variables.

RESULTS

Mediating pathways linking neuroticism and falls were found: neuroticism was positively associated with concern about falling, which was subsequently linked to indoor falls (indirect effect β = 0.34, p = 0.002) and recurrent outdoor falls (β = 0.19, p = 0.045). Moreover, a pathway from neuroticism to indoor falls through depressive symptoms was also found (β = 0.21, p = 0.054). In other words, higher neuroticism was associated with higher concern about falling and depressive symptoms, both of which were linked to falls. The associations were independent of age, sex, use of psychotropic, chronic diseases, persistent pain, physical performance, physical activity, and executive functioning that are known risk factors for falls.

DISCUSSION

The results indicate that concern about falling and depressive symptoms mediate the association between neuroticism and falling. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the causality of the findings and to examine the potential to reduce falls by targeting concern about falling and depressive symptoms among older adults higher in neuroticism.

Key factor cutoffs and interval reference values for stratified fall risk assessment in community-dwelling older adults: the role of physical fitness, body composition, physical activity, health condition, and environmental hazards

Background

Fall risk assessment and determination of older adults’ individual risk profiles are crucial elements in fall prevention. As such, it is essential to establish cutoffs and reference values for high and low risk according to key risk factor outcomes. This study main objective was to determine the key physical fitness, body composition, physical activity, health condition and environmental hazard risk outcome cutoffs and interval reference values for stratified fall risk assessment in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods

Five-hundred community-dwelling Portuguese older adults (72.2 ± 5.4 years) were assessed for falls, physical fitness, body composition, physical (in) activity, number of health conditions and environmental hazards, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Results

The established key outcomes and respective cutoffs and reference values used for fall risk stratification were multidimensional balance (low risk: score > 33, moderate risk: score 32–33, high risk: score 30–31, and very high: score < 30); lean body mass (low risk: > 44 kg, moderate risk: 42–44 kg, high risk: 39–41 kg, and very high: < 39 kg); fat body mass (low risk: < 37%, moderate risk: 37–38%, high risk: 39–42%, and very high: > 42%); total physical activity (low risk: > 2800 Met-min/wk., moderate risk: 2300–2800 Met-min/wk., high risk: 1900–2300 Met-min/wk., and very high: < 1900 Met-min/wk); rest period weekdays (low risk: < 4 h/day, moderate risk: 4–4.4 h/day, high risk: 4.5–5 h/day, and very high: > 5 h/day); health conditions (low risk: n < 3, moderate risk: n = 3, high risk: n = 4–5, and very high: n > 5); and environmental hazards (low risk: n < 5, moderate risk: n = 5, high risk: n = 6–8, and very high: n > 8).

Conclusions

Assessment of community-dwelling older adults’ fall risk should focus on the above outcomes to establish individual older adults’ fall risk profiles. Moreover, the design of fall prevention interventions should manage a person’s identified risks and take into account the determined cutoffs and respective interval values for fall risk stratification.

Personality and functional impairment. Evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

BACKGROUND

To date, only a few studies have investigated the association between personality and functional impairment. Therefore, our purpose was to add to this knowledge.

METHODS

Data from wave 7 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used (70 028 individuals in the analytical sample). Personality was measured using the 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10). Functional impairment was quantified using activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) indices. Multiple linear regressions were conducted.

RESULTS

Regressions showed that an increased likelihood of limitations in ADL was associated with higher extraversion, higher agreeableness, lower conscientiousness, higher neuroticism, and higher openness to experience. Similarly, an increased likelihood of limitations in IADL was associated with higher agreeableness, lower conscientiousness, higher neuroticism, and higher openness to experience (only with one IADL index).

CONCLUSIONS

This knowledge of associations between personality and functional limitations may help in determining individuals at risk for increased functional impairment (e.g., individuals with low conscientiousness or high neuroticism). Future research is needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms.

The association of proBNPage with manifestations of age-related cardiovascular, physical, and psychological impairment in community-dwelling older adults

NT-proB-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) serum concentration can be transformed by simple formulas into proBNPage, a surrogate of biological age strongly associated with chronological age, all-cause mortality, and disease count. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess whether proBNPage is also associated with other manifestations of the aging process in comparison with other variables. The study included 1117 noninstitutionalized older adults (73.1 ± 5.6 years, 537 men). Baseline measurements of serum NT-proBNP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, hemoglobin, lymphocytes, and creatinine, which have previously been shown to be highly associated with both age and all-cause mortality, were performed. These variables were compared between subjects with and without manifestations of cardiovascular impairment (myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, peripheral artery disease (PAD), arterial revascularizations (AR)), physical impairment (long step test duration (LSTD), walking problems, falls, deficit in one or more activities of daily living), and psychological impairment (poor self-rating of health (PSRH), anxiety/depression, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score < 24). ProBNPage (years) was independently associated (OR, 95% CI) with MI (1.08, 1.07-1.10), stroke (1.02, 1.00-1.05), PAD (1.04, 1.01-1.06), AR (1.06, 1.04-1.08), LSTD (1.03, 1.02-1.04), walking problems (1.02, 1.01-1.03), and PSRH (1.02, 1.01-1.02). For 5 of these 7 associations, the relationship was stronger than that of chronological age. In addition, proBNPage was univariately associated with MMSE score < 24, anxiety/depression, and falls. None of the other variables provided comparable performances. Thus, in addition to the known associations with mortality and disease count, proBNPage is also associated with cardiovascular manifestations as well as noncardiovascular manifestations of the aging process.

The Onset of Falls Reduces Subjective Well-Being. Findings of a Nationally Representative Longitudinal Study

Introduction: The prevalence of older individuals experiencing a fall is high. Moreover, falls can have deleterious effects on health status. Additionally, falls can affect the subjective well-being of individuals. However, there is a lack of studies examining the link between falls and subjective well-being. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate whether the onset of falling is associated with (intraindividual) decreases in subjective well-being in men and women. Materials and Methods: Longitudinal data (from wave 5 to wave 6) were taken from a population-based sample of individuals residing in private households in Germany [in our analytical sample: 3,906 observations (men), and 3,718 observations (women)]. Positive and negative affect were quantified using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Life satisfaction was assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Results: Adjusting for various potential confounders, fixed effects regressions showed that the onset of falls was associated with a decrease in positive affect (β = 0.08, p < 0.01), and an increase in negative affect (β = 0.07, p < 0.01) among men. While the onset of falls was not associated with changes in positive affect in women, it was associated with a decrease in negative affect in women (β = 0.06, p < 0.05). Sex differences were significant. The onset of falls was not associated with decreases in life satisfaction in men, nor in women. Discussion: The present study particularly highlights the link between the onset of falls and reduced affective well-being among men. Avoiding falls may contribute to maintaining affective well-being among middle-aged and older men.

Personality and Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome

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.