ReviewJournal of the American Medical Directors Association2019
Personality Changes With Dementia From the Informant Perspective: New Data and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analyses of personality change from the preclinical to the clinical stages of dementia.Ageing research reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Personality Associations With Amyloid and Tau: Results From the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging and Meta-analysis.Biological psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Powerful Tools for Caregivers on Caregiver Burden and on Care Recipient Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2020Trial
- Detecting cognitive impairment and psychological well-being among older adults.Machine learning. Health · 2026Article
- Clinical patterns in social cognition & personality changes in progressive supranuclear palsy.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Trajectories of Purpose in Life Across Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease or Related Dementias in Older Adulthood.Journal of aging and health · 2025Article
- Personality traits and loneliness: An ecological momentary assessment study with self and partner ratings.Journal of research in personality · 2025Article
- Cognitive function moderates the mediation of resilience in the relationship between perceived receipt of filial piety and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults with multiple long-term conditions.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Personality traits and measures of neuropsychiatric symptoms.Aging & mental health · 2025Article
- Testing of significant changes in big-five personality factors over time in the presence and absence of memory impairment and life-related stress.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Informant-rated change in personality traits, psychological distress, well-being, and social connection with dementia.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2023Article
- Changes in Personality Before and During Cognitive Impairment.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2023Observational
- Change in Purpose in Life Before and After Onset of Cognitive Impairment.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Neuroticism and white matter hyperintensities.Journal of psychiatric research · 2023Article
- The association between personality and plasma biomarkers of astrogliosis and neuronal injury.Neurobiology of aging · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- Are Smart Homes Adequate for Older Adults with Dementia?Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Pathways From Early-Life SES to Dementia Risk in Old Age: The Role of Personality.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2022Article
- Facets of Personality and Risk of Cognitive Impairment: Longitudinal Findings in a Rural Community from Sardinia.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo examine changes in personality in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia as observed by family members using both new data and a meta-analysis with the published literature.
designCurrent and retrospective personality assessments of individuals with dementia by family informants. PubMed was searched for studies with a similar design and a forward citation tracking was conducted using Google Scholar in June 2018. Results from a new sample and from published studies were combined in a random effect meta-analysis. SETTING AND
participantsFamily members of older adults with MCI or dementia. MEASURES: The 5 major dimensions (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and facets of personality were assessed with NEO Personality Inventory questionnaires.
resultsThe new sample (n = 50) and meta-analysis (18 samples; n = 542) found consistent shifts in personality from the premorbid to current state in patients with cognitive impairment. The largest changes (>1 standard deviation) were declines in conscientiousness (particularly for the facets of self-discipline and competence) and extraversion (decreased energy and assertiveness), as well as increases in neuroticism (increased vulnerability to stress). The new sample suggested that personality changes were larger in individuals taking cognition-enhancing medications (cholinesterase inhibitors or memantine). More recent studies and those that examined individuals with MCI found smaller effects. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Consistent with the clinical criteria for the diagnosis of dementia, the new study and meta-analysis found replicable evidence for large changes in personality among individuals with dementia. Future research should examine whether there are different patterns of personality changes across etiologies of dementia to inform differential diagnosis and treatments. Prospective, repeated assessments of personality using both self- and informant-reports are essential to clarify the temporal evolution of personality change across the preclinical, prodromal, and clinical phases of dementia.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.