Neuroticism and Risk of Parkinson's Disease: A Meta‐Analysis

Abstract

A BS TRACT: Background: Neuroticism is linked to mood disorders and Alzheimer's disease, but fewer studies have tested the prospective association with Parkinson's disease (PD). Objectives: To examine the association between neuroticism and risk of PD in a large cohort and a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Methods: Participants from the UK Biobank (N = 490,755) completed a neuroticism scale in 2006-2010. Incident PD was ascertained using electronic health records or death records up to 2018. The systematic search and metaanalysis followed the MOOSE guidelines. Results: During 11.91 years of follow-up (mean = 8.88 years; 4,360,105 person-years) 1142 incident PD cases were identified. Neuroticism was associated with higher risk of incident PD, both as continuous (HR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.21-1.36) and categorical variable (top vs. bottom quartiles: HR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.60-2.22). The association remained significant after accounting for age, sex, smoking, physical activity, anxiety, and depressed mood, and after excluding cases that occurred within the first 5 years of follow-up. The associations were similar for women and men and across levels of socioeconomic status. Random-effect meta-analysis of four prospective studies (N = 548,284) found neuroticism associated with increased risk of incident PD (HR = 1.82; 95% CI: 1.59-2.08; P = 7.31 −19 ). There was no evidence of heterogeneity across studies with follow-ups ranging from one to four decades. Conclusion:The results from the large UK Biobank and meta-analysis of prospective studies indicate that neuroticism is consistently associated with a higher risk of incident PD.

Neuroticism and Risk of Parkinson's Disease: A Meta‐Analysis

“…We read with interest the article by Terracciano and colleagues 1 entitled "Neuroticism and Risk of Parkinson's Disease: A Meta-analysis." In the perspective of an early diagnosis and treatment, the interest in the individuation of risk factors or prodromal biomarkers of PD, including peculiar personality traits, is constantly growing.…”

“…Previous studies assessing parkinsonian personality using the Big Five Model of personality have frequently reported high levels of Neuroticism and low levels of Openness and Extraversion in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). 2 With the aim to explore the association between the presence of neuroticism and later occurrence of PD, Terracciano and colleagues 1 performed a prospective cohort study analyzing the association between the score obtained at the short form of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised and PD development in a large cohort of healthy communitydwelling adults belonging the UK Biobank, with a follow-up time of about 11 years. Moreover, they performed a metaanalysis on the present and previous prospective cohort studies aimed at assessing the aforementioned association.…”

Reply to: “Is Conscientiousness Related to the Risk of Parkinson's Disease?”

“…Luca, Nicoletti, and Zappia for their comment on our finding that neuroticism is a risk factor of Parkinson's disease (PD). 1 We agree that obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is an important clinical condition to consider in the context of PD. Beyond neuroticism, OCPD is conceptually and empirically related to conscientiousness, 2 one of the five major personality traits.…”

Association Between Neuroticism and Risk of Lung Cancer: Results From Observational and Mendelian Randomization Analyses

“…Neuroticism is a personality trait that reflects relative stability to experience negative emotions. Neuroticism is one of the major dimensions of the Five-Factor Model of personality ( 1 ), and it is also one of the most studied psychological dispositions because of its relevance ranging from normal to abnormal emotional functioning ( 2 ). Individuals with higher neuroticism would be more likely to be worried, anxious and emotionally unstable ( 3 ).…”