Association between big 5 personality traits and pre-frail status-related factors: A cross-sectional analysis from the Kanagawa ME-BYO prospective cohort study

Japan is experiencing a pressing issue of implementing preventive measures for older people's nursing care. The more diplomatic and open-minded men and women are, the more likely they are to engage in activity and exercise. This study aimed to clarify how personality and other factors influenced by it affect the locomotive syndrome. It utilized the data of 1683 participants who partook in the baseline survey of the Kanagawa ME-BYO prospective cohort research from September 2016 to August 2020. Personality was unrelated to physical activity, scores on the 5-question geriatric locomotive function scale, and bone mineral density (BMD). A subgroup analysis identified a relationship between personality and the older women's specific characteristics (P = .01). We evaluated the correlations among the score on the locomotive scale, physical activity, BMD, and the EuroQol 5 dimensions 5-level (EQ-5D-5L); significant correlations were found between the score on the locomotive scale the EQ-5D-5L in both men (r = -0.49, P < .001) and women (r = -0.46, P < .001). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, age, body mass index, physical activity, the Kessler 6-item psychological distress scale, and personality traits measured using the Big 5 Inventory were not significant risk factors of the locomotive syndrome in both men and women. In the subgroup of the participants aged ≥ 65, agreeableness was significantly related to physical activity (P = .01). This study did not find a relationship between personality and locomotive syndrome or exercise behavior; this may be insufficient for presuming the effect of personality on locomotive syndrome and physical activity. However, the results of the subgroup analysis of the older women confirmed the association between agreeableness and physical activity.