The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between personality traits and
participation in mass health checkups among Japanese community-dwelling elderly.
A data set of 327 men and 519 women aged 70 years and over was used in the analysis.
The NEO Five-Factor Inventory was administered to assess the "big five" personality
traits: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.
In multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for gender, age, number of years
of education, living alone, presence of psychiatric diseases, presence of chronic
diseases, and history of hospitalization during a 1-year period, openness was independently
associated with participation in mass health checkups [odds ratio (OR)=1.51, 95% confidence
interval (CI)=1.08-2.12, P<.01 and OR=1.38, 95% CI=0.96-1.97, P=.07 for the middle
and highest tertile, respectively]. No other domains of personality were related to
participation in the checkups.
The results of the present study suggest that older individuals high in openness are
likely to take part in checkups for the elderly. Our findings could help improve the
participation rate in mass health checkups for the prevention of long-term care dependence
in later life.