Harm Avoidance and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

Bibliographic Data

ID19304641
AuthorsRobert S Wilson (0000-0001-6334-0684), R J Wilson (0000-0002-8184-4103, Illinois Department of Public Health, corresponding author), Patricia A Boyle (0000-0002-3245-3456, National Institute on Aging), Aron S Buchman (0000-0002-6426-2742, National Institute on Aging), Lei Yu (0000-0001-7883-197X, National Institute on Aging), Steven E Arnold (0000-0002-9487-415X, National Institute on Aging), David A Bennett (0000-0003-3689-554X, Rush University Medical Center)
Year2011
Volume73
Issue8
Pages690-696
Publication date2011-10-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychosomatic Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3174 • E-ISSN: 1534-7796
PublisherOvid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/psy.0b013e3182302ale
PMID21949425
PMCIDPMC3304581
OpenAlexW1965427888
LanguageEN
References cited41

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that harm avoidance, a trait associated with behavioral inhibition, is associated with the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: A total of 791 adults 55 years and older without dementia completed a standard self-report measure of harm avoidance. They then underwent annual evaluations that included detailed cognitive testing and clinical classification of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia, and AD. In a uniform neuropathologic examination of those who died, counts of neuritic plaques, diffuse plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles were standardized and combined to yield a pathologic measure of disease. The relation of harm avoidance to incidence of AD and related outcomes was estimated in analyses adjusted for age, sex, and education. RESULTS: During a mean of 3.5 years of annual observation, 98 people (12.4%) developed incident AD. A high level of harm avoidance (90th percentile) was associated with a more than two-fold increase in risk of AD compared with a low score (10th percentile). Higher harm avoidance was also associated with increased incidence of MCI and more rapid decline in episodic memory, working memory, and perceptual speed (but not semantic memory or visuospatial ability). In 116 participants who died and underwent brain autopsy, harm avoidance was not related to a composite measure of plaques and tangles. CONCLUSIONS: A high level of the harm avoidance trait, indicating a tendency toward behavioral inhibition, is related to the risk of developing AD and its precursor, MCI

Alzheimer's disease · Audiology · Cognition · Dementia · Disease · Incidence (geometry) · Psychiatry · Alzheimer's disease research and treatments · Clinical Psychology · Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Psychology · Schizophrenia research and treatment

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