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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Personality traits, education, and health-related quality of life among older adult primary care patients | | Author(s) | Benjamin Chapman, Paul Duberstein, Jeffrey M Lyness |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 62B, no 6, November 2007 |
| Pages | pp P343-P352 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Personality ; Educational status [elderly] ; Health [elderly] ; Quality of life ; Patients ; General practice ; Correlation ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Both lower education and the personality trait of neuroticism have been associated with lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in older people, but little is known about the role of the personality traits in HRQOL. The authors examined the associations of all Five-Factor Model personality traits and education, above and beyond physician-rated medical burden, with different aspects of HRQOL in a sample of 442 primary care patients aged 65+ who completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Different aspects of HRQOL were assessed using the Short Form 36(SF-36), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), and the physical self-maintenance scale. Even after statistically adjusting for age, gender, the presence of major depressive disorder and physician-rated medical morbidity, a higher neuroticism level was associated with lower functioning on the IADLs and the physical self-maintenance scale and worse HRQOL on the Social Functioning and Role Emotional sub-scales of the SF-36. Higher conscientiousness level was associated with better HRQOL on the SF-36 Role Physical scale and better IADL function. Higher education level was associated with better HRQOL on all measures except emotional role impairment. In exploratory moderation analyses, a higher openness level diminished the effect of medical burden on IADL impairment. Preliminary population-attributable risk comparisons suggest that - on a strictly population basis - the impairment conferred by a neuroticism level that is 1 standard deviation (SD) above the mean may be equivalent to or greater than that of major depressive disorder. Further research aimed at understanding how personality traits are linked with HRQOL and functioning in later life may enhance the identification of at-risk older people and inform the development of interventions. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-080307214 A |
| Classmark | DK: F:V: CC: F:59: LF: L5: 49: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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