Association between personality profiles and motoric cognitive risk syndrome in community-dwelling older adults: a person-centered approach.

Abstract

Background: Motoric cognitive risk (MCR) syndrome is a predementia syndrome characterized by subjective cognitive complaints and slow gait in the absence of dementia and mobility disability. Although past research has suggested that personality traits could play a significant role in the onset and progression of MCR among older adults, the exact relationships between specific personality profiles and MCR remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the relationship between personality profiles and MCR among community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2021 to January 2022. Personality traits, including openness, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism, were measured using the 40-item brief version of the Chinese Big Five Inventory. The Latent profile analysis was used to identify personality profiles among these older adults who shared similar patterns of personality traits. The Lanza, Tan, and Bray's approach was employed to investigate the personality profile-specific differences in MCR prevalence. Furthermore, a stepwise multinomial logistic regression revealed unique population characteristics for different personality profiles.

Results: A total of 538 eligible participants were included in this study. The mean age was 73.25 years (SD = 9.0) and 62.50% were females. This study identified four distinct personality profiles: the resilient, ordinary, reserved, and anti-resilient profiles. The resilient profile exhibited the lowest prevalence of MCR (mean = 6%, SE = 0.024), whereas the anti-resilient profile had the highest (mean = 20.3%, SE = 0.043). The prevalence of MCR differed among personality profiles (overall χ² = 14.599, p = 0.002). Personality profile membership was characterized by different population characteristics. Notably, the anti-resilient profile was association with symptoms of depression (OR = 28.443, 95%CI = 11.095-72.912), while the reserved profile was linked with advanced age (OR = 1.031, 95%CI = 1.003-1.061). Overall, a low education level and poor sleep quality were the robust attribution factors.

Conclusions: This study revealed that personality profiles may assist in identifying older adults at greater risk of MCR. Increased awareness and management of personality profiles may contribute to the prevention of MCR.