MHAS: Study Overview
The 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 core interview was carried out in 2001 with follow-up interviews in 2003, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2021 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. |
|---|---|
| Anthopometric and Performance Measures | Conducted at Waves 1, 2, and 3 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. |
| 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 every wave. In addition, an in-depth cognitive sub-study of MHAS called the Cognitive Aging Ancillary Study (Mex-Cog) used the Harmonzied Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) on a sub-sample of respondents. Wave 1 of the Mex-Cog included those age 55 and older in 2016. Wave 2 of the Mex-Cog included those age 58 and older in 2021. |
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.
