Mature Adults Cohort of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH-MAC)

MLSFH-MAC is a longitudinal study that focuses on aging, health, and specifically on the mental and cognitive health of mature adults aged 45+ years old living in rural Malawi. MLSFH-MAC was established in 2012 and is conducted in three districts in Malawi, a low-income SSA country with a moderately-high HIV/AIDS prevalence. MLSFH-MAC represents a rare opportunity to study aging populations in a poor SSA context, all within a longitudinal cohort perspective that allows us to document and better understand the processes of individual and population aging and associated public health and social challenges that are distinctly different from patterns observed in higher income contexts.

MLSFH-MAC provides longitudinal information on aspects such as prevalence/incidence of depression, anxiety, dimensions of cognitive impairment; non-communicable and communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and their relationship with poor health knowledge and health management; life-course and family factors associated with health outcomes above age 45 years