A study offered a new understanding of the simultaneous relationship between personality traits and transitions between cognitive status categories and mortality, as well as total longevity and cognitive health span. Studies have suggested that personality traits are linked with mild cognitive impairment, mortality risk, and dementia. However, the timing of when traits are most crucial in the advancement to dementia and the extent to which they are linked with years of cognitive healthspan is not clear.

This study applied secondary data evaluation to Rush Memory and Aging Project (1954 participants; 74% women; mean age at baseline = 80 years) over up to 23 annual evaluations. The multistate survival modeling investigated extent to which extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, evaluated utilizing the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, were related to transitions between cognitive status categories and mortality.

On the basis of standard deviation units of personality traits, the multinomial regression models evaluated total survival and cognitive health span. Personality traits were found to be most essential in the transition from no cognitive dysfunction to mild cognitive dysfunction following adjustment for demographics, symptoms of depression, and apolipoprotein ε4.

For example, higher conscientiousness was linked with a reduced risk of transitioning from no cognitive impairment to mild cognitive impairment, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.78, 95% confidence interval  [0.72, 0.85] and higher neuroticism was linked with a raised risk of transitioning from no cognitive impairment to mild cognitive impairment, HR = 1.12, 95% confidence interval  [1.04, 1.21].

Though the personality traits were not related to total longevity, people with high conscientiousness and extraversion, and less in neuroticism exhibited more years of cognitive health span, specifically the female volunteers.