Kellogg Researcher Launches First of-its-Kind Study of Health and Aging in Kenya

A U-M population research team led by Joshua Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H., is embarking on a study of population trends and age-related health issues in Kenya.

Ehrlich, a co-director of the Jerome Jacobson International Program at the Kellogg Eye Center, is a clinician-scientist whose “research portfolio addresses global challenges in vision impairment and population health.

The Longitudinal Study of Health and Aging in Kenya (LOSHAK) will follow a cohort of adults aged 45 and older in the Sub-Saharan African country. Factors to be tracked include the impact of vision impairment on health and wellbeing, Alzheimers disease and related dementias, mental health, air pollution and climate change, and factors influencing late-life economic well-being.

“Today, Kenya’s population is relatively young,” says Dr. Ehrlich. “But it faces a steep aging curve over the next 30 years. There is a major gap in population-level data on aging in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study will track both population and individual aging trends to form a clearer picture of Kenya’s age-related health risk factors.”

Joshua Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H., with Felix Agoi (Field Manager, Aga Khan University, Mombasa, Kenya)

LOSHAK will be the newest study in the growing international network of studies based on the U-M Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which has been gathering and studying aging-related data in the U.S. since 1992. The HRS and the global network of HRS-based studies are overseen by the U-M Institute for Social Research, the world’s largest academic social science survey and research organization, where Dr. Ehrlich is a Research Assistant Professor.

LOSHAK will utilize interviewer training, software and data processing developed for the HRS. Recruiting participants will be aided by a local research platform already established in coastal Kenya.

“Ultimately, LOSHAK will provide comprehensive population-based measures of health and economic well-being from mid- to late-life,” Dr. Ehrlich explains. “Cross-national comparisons with data from other HRS-based studies will help us better understand health and aging across the globe, providing insights for the U.S. and our citizens.”