Kato Kaori, Zweig Richard, Schechter Clyde B, Verghese Joe, Barzilai Nir, Atzmon Gil
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Aging (Albany NY). 2013 Mar;5(3):183-91. doi: 10.18632/aging.100545.
Personality and self-rated health have been linked previously to cognitive outcome in late life. However, these associations have not been shown among the oldest old. This study examined relationships between personality, self-rated health, and cognitive function in a selected sample of Ashkenazi Jewish centenarians (n=68, 59% female) aged 95 to 106 who lived independently in the community. Personality was measured using the Personality Outlook Profile Scale (POPS), a brief measure that was validated in this population. Self-rated health was assessed by participants' subjective rating of their present health, and Mini-Mental Status Examination was used to determine cognitive function. Results showed positive associations of the Positive Attitude Towards Life domain of the POPS and self-rated health with participants' current cognitive function. These associations remained significant even after adjusting for the effects of participants'age, gender, marital status, education, and history of medical illnesses. Further exploratory analysis using structural equations modeling showed significant associations among the three variables, but demonstrated a borderline significant level of mediating effect of personality on the relationship between self-rated health and cognition. These results reemphasized the independent roles of personality and self-rated health on centenarians' cognitive outcomes. Future studies will further elucidate the impact of personality and self-rated health on cognitive outcomes in the oldest old.
人格和自评健康状况此前已被证明与晚年的认知结果有关。然而，在最年长的老年人中，这些关联尚未得到证实。本研究调查了居住在社区中、年龄在95至106岁之间、独立生活的特定阿什肯纳兹犹太百岁老人样本（n = 68，59%为女性）的人格、自评健康与认知功能之间的关系。使用人格展望量表（POPS）来测量人格，该量表是一种简短的测量工具，已在该人群中得到验证。自评健康通过参与者对自身当前健康状况的主观评价来评估，简易精神状态检查表用于确定认知功能。结果显示，POPS的积极生活态度维度和自评健康与参与者当前的认知功能呈正相关。即使在调整了参与者的年龄、性别、婚姻状况、教育程度和病史的影响后，这些关联仍然显著。使用结构方程模型进行的进一步探索性分析显示，这三个变量之间存在显著关联，但人格对自评健康与认知之间关系的中介效应处于临界显著水平。这些结果再次强调了人格和自评健康在百岁老人认知结果中的独立作用。未来的研究将进一步阐明人格和自评健康对最年长老年人认知结果的影响。
