Abstract
Linking data from a case–control study of Alzheimer’s disease with data from a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) outpatient study, we identified 13 Alzheimer's disease cases and 16 controls for case–control comparison. The mean time between personality testing and onset of Alzheimer's disease (or corresponding age for controls) was 13 years in cases and 14 years in controls. Alzheimer's disease cases, but not the controls, had scores significantly greater than the normative reference on MMPI scales measuring Social Introversion (p = 0.05), and Pessimism (p = 0.01). When compared to controls, Alzheimer's disease cases had significantly greater scores on the Social Introversion scale (p = 0.03). Despite the small sample size and some design limitations of this exploratory study, our findings may suggest that subjects who score higher on these personality scales have a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Highlights
Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) experience symptoms of depression (Baker et aI., 1991; Migliorelli et al, 1995) and a history of depression was found to increase the risk of AD (Jorm et al, 1991; Speck et al, 1995)
Personality changes are observed in the progression of dementia in AD (Petry et al, 1989; Siegler et al, 1991; B6zzola et al, 1992; Chatterjee et al, 1992; Strauss et aI., 1993; Siegler et at., 1994; Wild et at., 1994); whether certain personality characteristics precede the onset of AD has not been established
Understanding the personality characteristics that precede the onset of AD may lead to new hypotheses on the etiology of the disease and may influence the management of dementia
Summary
Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) experience symptoms of depression (Baker et aI., 1991; Migliorelli et al, 1995) and a history of depression was found to increase the risk of AD (Jorm et al, 1991; Speck et al, 1995). One study suggested that a history of social and interpersonal inactivity increases the risk of developing AD (Kondo and Yamashita, 1990). Another study suggested that high scores on a personality dimension pertaining to a need to keep other people at a distance, and low scores on a dimension pertaining to mental energy, predicted the development of dementia in women (Persson et al, 1991). We conducted a case-control study to preliminarily investigate the association between premorbid personality and AD using two existing data sources available at the Mayo Clinic. The advantage of our study was that personality was measured substantially before AD onset, avoiding the possible recall bias and the confusion between premorbid personality and personality changes due to AD
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