Personality and physician-assessed illness burden in older primary care patients over 4 years

BACKGROUND

Personality traits have been associated with physician-rated illness burden cross-sectionally, but longitudinal associations between personality and objective medical morbidity remain unclear.

PURPOSE

To examine associations between personality and physician-rated illness burden 4 years prospectively in older primary care patients.

METHOD

At baseline, patients (average age: 75, SD: 6.6, 62% female) completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory. At baseline and 4 yearly follow-ups, a physician completed the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale on the basis of medical records.

RESULTS

Linear mixed-effects models revealed that higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness predicted worse average illness burden longitudinally. Relatively disagreeable persons (25th percentile) accumulated morbidity at a 33% faster rate than agreeable (75th percentile) peers. At the final follow-up, a person at the 75th percentile of neuroticism and the 25th percentile of conscientiousness and agreeableness showed morbidity comparable to a peer of average personality but 10 years older. An individual at the 25th percentile of neuroticism and 75th percentile of conscientiousness and agreeableness showed end-point illness burden comparable to a peer of average personality but 10 years younger. Twenty-one percent of the morbidity associated with neuroticism was explained by total cholesterol. History of hypertension, smoking, alcohol/drug abuse, and affective symptoms of depression each explained 10% or less of the other observed personality effects.

CONCLUSION

Personality plays a nontrivial role in healthy aging among older persons. Brief personality assessment may identify at-risk older persons for closer monitoring, enhance the accuracy of medical prognosis, and provide clues for clinical interventions to promote better health.

Premeditated aggression is associated with serum cholesterol in abstinent drug and alcohol dependent men

Relationships between aggressive subtypes and lipids were explored in 18 adult males undergoing treatment for substance dependence. A positive association was observed between a measure of premeditated aggression and total cholesterol. This was in contrast to an inverse association between lower cholesterol and higher impulsivity and anxiety.