Abstract
Background: We examine whether broad factors and specific facets of personality are associated with increased risk of incident Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a long-run longitudinal study and a meta-analysis of published studies. Methods: Participants (n = 1671) were monitored for up to 22 years from a baseline personality assessment. The meta-analysis pooled results from up to five prospective studies (n = 5054). Results: Individuals with scores in the top quartile of neuroticism (hazard ratio = 3.1; 95% confidence interval = 1.6-6.0) or the lowest quartile of conscientiousness (hazard ratio = 3.3; 95% confidence interval = 1.4-7.4) had a threefold increased risk of incident AD. Among the components of these traits, self-discipline and depression had the strongest associations with incident AD. The meta-analysis confirmed the associations of neuroticism (P = 2 × 10-9) and conscientiousness (P = 2 × 10-6), along with weaker effects for openness and agreeableness (P
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 179-186 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Alzheimer's and Dementia |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease
- Anxiety
- APOE
- Conscientiousness
- Dementia
- Depression
- Meta-analysis
- Neuroticism
- Observational prospective study
- Order
- Self-discipline
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Epidemiology
- Health Policy