Objectives: To examine the association between openness to experience and conscientiousness and incident reported walking limitation.

Method: The study population consisted of 786 men and women aged 71-81 years (M = 75 years, SD = 2.7) participating in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition-Cognitive Vitality Substudy.

Results: Nearly 20% of participants (155/786) developed walking limitation during 6 years of follow-up. High openness was associated with a reduced risk of walking limitation (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.69-0.98), independent of sociodemographic factors, health conditions, and conscientiousness. This association was not mediated by lifestyle factors and was not substantially modified by other risk factors for functional disability. Conscientiousness was not associated with risk of walking limitation (HR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.77-1.07).

Discussion: Findings suggest that personality dimensions, specifically higher openness to experience, may contribute to functional resilience in late life.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3478729PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbs001DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

walking limitation
16
late life
8
health aging
8
aging body
8
openness experience
8
risk walking
8
walking
5
personality reduced
4
reduced incidence
4
incidence walking
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!