Two large studies, found last week with the simple search term personality assessment, confirm that personality has long-term effects on overall mortality, irrespective of standard medical risk factors.
The first, a follow-up study of more than 7000 Minnesotans who lived near the Mayo Clinic in the mid-1960s, correlated earlier death with negative emotions expressed at age 20-39.
RESULT: Pessimistic, Anxious, and Depressive Personality Traits Predict All-Cause Mortality: The Mayo Clinic Cohort Study of Personality and Aging
Psychosomatic Medicine
Researchers from Scotland have found neuroticism an independent mortality risk factor among 4200 men observed over 15 years.
Low cognitive ability was also a risk factor, but it was associated with mortality indirectly because of its effects on income and general health.
RESULT: Emotionally Stable, Intelligent Men Live Longer: The Vietnam Experience Study Cohort
Psychosomatic Medicine
Evidence-based Articles
Unfortunately, the recent evidence also suggests that neuroticism affects the success of treatment for mood disorders.
IN THE JOURNALS
What have other clinicians been finding on SearchMedica?
Search term: sleep dependent memory humans
RESULT: Does Sleep Really Influence Face Recognition Memory?
PLoS One
Search term: agoraphobia
RESULT: Psychiatric Treatment Received by Primary Care Patients With Panic Disorder With and Without Agoraphobia
Psychiatric Services
NOTEWORTHY SEARCH of the week
Lessons from a genuine clinical search
“Exactly what I was looking for!” someone wrote us.
The search term was American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: PTSD review article.
RESULT #6: Practice Parameters for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
TIP: A pretty good result. But here’s an example in which removing publication date from the ranking algorithm would actually improve the search, because the result is fairly old (2005) and this person knew precisely what he or she was seeking.
With “Prioritize results by publication date” un-clicked, this practice parameter appears as Result #1.
(You’d also find it at the top in the article category Practice Guidelines.)
