Cohort studies

The Madagascar Health and Environmental Research (MAHERY) team has conducted four cohort studies in Madagascar.

  1. an ongoing (April 2018 – present) health surveillance program in three rainforested communities of northeastern Madagascar where we are collecting monthly health information on every individual (complete census) in all three communities. This project will continue for at least the next three years.
  2. a study of more than 5,000 individuals (both sexes, all ages) from 1,200 households in 24 communities in four distinct regions of Madagascar. There was only one time point for clinical health data collection (2017) but the social surveys (including health information) continue through the present.
  3.  a 3-year prospective cohort study of more than 1,000 individuals (both sexes, all ages) from 225 households in coastal northeastern Madagascar designed to understand the role of different forms of fisheries management in providing access to seafood and affecting nutritional status.
  4. a 15-month prospective cohort study of almost 700 individuals (both sexes, all ages) from more than 140 households, we collected blood samples at three time points over the course of 15 months to investigate the prevalence and incidence of nutritional deficiencies, intestinal parasites, malaria and zoonotic pathogens that arise from exposure to vector-borne disease and wildlife reservoirs of disease.
  5. a one-year prospective cohort study of 73 pre-adolescent children from 28 households of one community in a rainforested area of northeastern Madagascar designed to understand the role of wild meats in human nutrition

There is an abundance of data that would be fertile ground for student projects.

Publications:

  1. Golden, C. D., Anjaranirina, E. J. G., Fernald, L. C. H., Hartl, D. L., Kremen, C., Ralalason, D. H., Ramihantaniarivo, H., Randriamady, H. J., Rice, B. L., Vaitla, B., Volkman, S. K., Vonona, M. A., and Myers, S. S. 2017. Cohort Profile: The Madagascar Health and Environmental Research (MAHERY) Study in Northeastern Madagascar. International Journal of Epidemiology. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyx071