Home » Surveys at a Glance » MHAS: Study Overview
MHAS: Study Overview
MHAS is a longitudinal study of people aged 50 and older and their partners, living in private households in Mexico. Its main goal is to use a wide socioeconomic perspective to examine the aging process and the disease and disability burden in older adults. The survey elicits information about demographics, health, migration, family structure, health care use and costs, income, assets, housing, and cognition.
The MHAS sample is a nationally representative sample of the population aged 50 years and older, living in private households in Mexico. The sample also has urban/rural representation. The initial sample was recruited in 2001 from households that had participated in the National Employment Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Empleo, ENE) in 2000.
Age Eligibility | Age 50 and older |
---|---|
People Interviewed per Household | One person per household |
Spouse Inclusion | Spouse of any age |
Representativeness | Nationally and urban/rural representative |
Institutional Representation | None |
Oversampling | Households in the six states which account for 40% of all migrants to the USA |
The MHAS core interview was carried out in 2001, 2003, 2012, 2015, and 2018 through face-to-face interviews, using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) since 2012.

In addition to the core interview, MHAS also collects a number of other types of data.
End of Life Interview | Conducted starting at Wave 2 with next-of-kin knowledgeable about deceased respondents. |
---|---|
Health Assessment | Conducted at Waves 1-4 among a sub-sample of respondents. |
Blood-Based Biomarkers | Venous blood was drawn at Waves 3 and 4 among a sub-sample of respondents. Capillary blood was collected at Wave 3 among a sub-sample of respondents via dried blood spots. |
Salivary Biomarkers | Saliva was collected at Wave 5 among respondents aged 60 and older. |
Noninvasive Biomarkers | Hair was collected at Wave 5 among a sub-sample of respondents. |
Cognitive Assessment | Conducted in a sub-study of MHAS called the Cognitive Aging Ancillary Study (Mex-Cog). Mex-Cog used the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) on a sub-sample of MHAS respondents aged 55 and older between Waves 4 and 5. |
The MHAS Wave 1 sample included 11,000 selected households containing 16,540 individuals and their spouses. Since then, the MHAS sample has been refreshed at waves 3 and 5. When the Wave 3 refreshment sample was drawn, households from the National Employment and Occupation Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Ocupacion y Empleo, ENOE) were selected if they had a respondent between the ages of 50 and 60. When the Wave 5 refreshment sample was drawn, households from the National Household Sampling Frame (Marco Nacional de Viviendas) were selected if they had a respondent between the ages of 50 and 55.

MHAS included linkages to administrative data for Waves 1, 2, and 3. The MHAS team has created linked datasets to answer specific research questions. Access to these datasets requires approval from the MHAS team.
Community-Level Characteristics (Wave 1) | National Institute of Statistics and Geography, Mexican Ministry of Health |
---|---|
Municipality-Level Mortality (Waves 1-3) | Mexican Ministry of Health |
State-Level Seguro Popular (Public Health Insurance) Enrollment (Waves 1-3) | Mexican Ministry of Health, National Population Council |
Public access MHAS data can be downloaded from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Unlinked data are anonymized and only require registration with UTMB. Access to linked data requires additional approval.
|
Available via:
UTMB |
---|---|
Linked community-level characteristics data Linked municipality-level mortality data Linked state-level Seguro Popular enrollment data |
Available via request from:
UTMB |
The Gateway to Global Aging Data has created several user-friendly datasets based on MHAS data designed to allow researchers to conduct cross-wave and cross-study analysis.
Harmonized MHAS | A dataset of research-ready variables derived from the core interviews and health assessments of Waves 1-4. | Download via MHAS website |
---|---|---|
Harmonized MHAS End of Life | A dataset of research-ready variables derived from the end of life interviews of Waves 2-4. | Coming soon |
Harmonized Mex-Cog | A dataset of research-ready variables derived from the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) conducted between Wave 4 and Wave 5. | Coming soon |
All study overviews
HRS
Health and Retirement Study
MHAS
Mexican Health and Aging Study
ELSA
English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
SHARE
Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe
CRELES
Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study
JSTAR
Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement