title: Associations of openness and conscientiousness with walking speed decline: findings from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to explore the associations between openness to experience and conscientiousness, two dimensions of the five-factor model of personality, and usual gait speed and gait speed decline.
  
  
  METHODS
  Baseline analyses were conducted on 907 men and women aged 71-82 years participating in the Cognitive Vitality substudy of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. The longitudinal analytic sample consisted of 740 participants who had walking speed assessed 3 years later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, gait speed averaged 1.2 m/s, and an average decline of 5% over the 3-year follow-up period was observed. Higher conscientiousness was associated with faster initial walking speed and less decline in walking speed over the study period, independent of sociodemographic characteristics. Lifestyle factors and disease status appear to play a role in the baseline but not the longitudinal association between conscientiousness and gait speed. Openness was not associated with either initial or decline in gait speed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings extend the body of evidence suggesting a protective association between conscientiousness and physical function to performance-based assessment of gait speed. Future studies are needed to confirm these associations and to explore mechanisms that underlie the conscientiousness mobility connection in aging adults.
authors.affiliation: Gerontology Program, School of Social Work, University of Missouri-St Louis, St Louis, MO 63121, USA. toleam@umsl.edu
authors.forename: Magdalena I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Tolea
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terracciano
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Faulkner
authors.forename: Mathilda Mace C
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Coday
authors.forename: Hilsa N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Ayonayon
authors.forename: Eleanor M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Simonsick
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001823:Body Composition; D003071:Cognition; D003242:Conscience; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005684:Gait; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D009043:Motor Activity; D016138:Walking