Personality and Health-Related Quality of Life of Older Chinese Adults: Cross-Sectional Study and Moderated Mediation Model Analysis.

Background: Personality has an impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of older adults. However, the relationship and mechanisms of the 2 variables are controversial, and few studies have been conducted on older adults.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between personality and HRQoL and the mediating and moderating roles of sleep quality and place of residence in this relationship.

Methods: A total of 4123 adults 60 years and older were from the Psychology and Behavior Investigation of Chinese Residents survey. Participants were asked to complete the Big Five Inventory, the Brief version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and EQ-5D-5L. A backpropagation neural network was used to explore the order of factors contributing to HRQoL. Path analysis was performed to evaluate the mediation hypothesis.

Results: As of August 31, 2022, we enrolled 4123 older adults 60 years and older. Neuroticism and extraversion were strong influencing factors of HRQoL (normalized importance >50%). The results of the mediation analysis suggested that neuroticism and extraversion may enhance and diminish, respectively, HRQoL (index: β=-.262, P<.001; visual analog scale: β=-.193, P<.001) by increasing and decreasing brief version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores (neuroticism: β=.17, P<.001; extraversion: β=-.069, P<.001). The multigroup analysis suggested a significant moderating effect of the place of residence (EQ-5D-5L index: P<.001; EQ-5D-5L visual analog scale: P<.001). No significant direct effect was observed between extraversion and EQ-5D-5L index in urban older residents (β=.037, P=.73).

Conclusions: This study sheds light on the potential mechanisms of personality and HRQoL among older Chinese adults and can help health care providers and relevant departments take reasonable measures to promote healthy aging.