# Mexican Health and Aging Study - MHAS

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON · 2022 · $769,712

## Abstract

The proposed project aims to design and field two more waves of survey data collection in Mexico,
extending and improving the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). This is a national, multi-purpose,
community-based, longitudinal cohort study of adults aged 50 and older. The two new waves will be fielded in
2018 and 2021, completing a cycle of 20 years since the first wave was fielded in 2001. Funds are also sought
to continue to archive, document, and disseminate for public use the new waves as well as the resulting
integrated data base containing all six waves. Since its inception, MHAS aimed to create a longitudinal
prospective study of Mexican aging, starting with a national sample (n=15,000), using study protocols and
survey instruments that were highly comparable to the U.S. Health and Retirement Study. In addition, the study
design sought to facilitate the examination of long term implications for health and aging of the massive
Mexico-U.S. migration flows. Thus, the sample design included an over-sample in states of Mexico with
historically high levels of migration to the United States. The new waves will replicate and improve these and
other unique features of previous rounds. New emphasis areas will be: environmental health; life histories;
health literacy; evaluation of losses and deaths in the panel. We will also continue an emphasis on the culture
of multi-generational Mexico-U.S. migration and its consequences for aging; and the impact for older adults of
structural changes in Mexico such as the health sector reform that started in 2003 and the economic recession
of 2009. Our aims are: 1) To carry out Waves 5 and 6 retaining the original substance of MHAS and adding
new content, following the survivors of Waves 1 through 4, and refreshing the sample in Wave 5 to yield again
a representative cross section of the Mexican population aged 50 and over; and 2) To enhance data linkages,
data distribution, dissemination, and outreach activities and to expand knowledge about and use of the data
sets and products of the resulting six waves of the MHAS. We will continue the user-friendly web-based
platforms and educational materials whose enhanced public access to the data and project documentation
have stimulated cross-country and other studies.
 The analytical significance of the new MHAS data will be exceptional, producing a national longitudinal
study of aging that span over twenty years, which is unique for a developing country. The data platform will
enhance research on aging and related population changes: of physical and mental health, physical and
cognitive functionality, environmental risks, health behaviors and health care use, family support, aging and the
life course, wealth, income, labor and retirement, migration and old age, and mortality, in a developing country
aging fast with limited institutional support for individuals in old age, and with close social and economic ties to
the United States. The data will enable cross-peri...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10126773
- **Project number:** 5R01AG018016-15
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MED BR GALVESTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Rebeca Wong
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $769,712
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1999-09-30 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10126773

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10126773, Mexican Health and Aging Study - MHAS (5R01AG018016-15). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10126773. Licensed CC0.

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