Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH), 1998-2021 (ICPSR 20840)
Version Date: Mar 4, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Hans-Peter Kohler, University of Pennsylvania. Population Studies Center;
Susan Cotts Watkins, University of Pennsylvania. Population Studies Center
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR20840.v2
Version V2 (see more versions)
Alternate Title View help for Alternate Title
Summary View help for Summary
The Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH) is one of very few long-standing longitudinal cohort studies in a poor Sub-Saharan African (SSA) context. It provides a record of more than 25 years of demographic, socioeconomic, and health conditions in one of the world's poorest countries. Initial data collection began in 1998 under the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP) to examine social networks and fertility decisions among married women and their husbands. While this initial study population is still followed, the scope of the project and population expanded to a broader focus on social and contextual determinants of health across the lifecourse in Malawi.
This collection includes Rounds 1 through 9 of the MLSFH, as well as supplemental data collections from Sexual Diaries, Migration Follow-Ups (MHM), a Biomarker Survey, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), and a Benefits of Knowledge Intervention Survey. The MLSFH Data web page contains additional information and cohort profiles for all MLSFH data collections, including those not made available through ICPSR-DSDR.
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Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
Village
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
These data may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is strictly prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, this data collection is restricted from general dissemination. To obtain this file, researchers must agree to the terms and conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement in accordance with existing ICPSR servicing policies.
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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For additional information and study documentation on the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH), please visit the MLSFH website.
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The MLSFH data have been subject to very limited data cleaning or subsequent processing. Users are encouraged to thoroughly review the data with the corresponding documentation and the MLSFH website. Please contact the MLSFH study team (info@MLSFHresearch.org) if additional information is needed.
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The MLSFH study team requests that users acknowledge the study team by including the following additional citations.
- For the Cohort Profile data:
- For the Adolescent subset data:
- For the Mature Adult subset data:
Kohler, Hans-Peter et al. (2015). "Cohort Profile: The Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH)." (2014). Cohort Profile: The Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH). International Journal of Epidemiology. 44 (2): 394-404. doi:10.1093/ije/dyu049.
Kidman, Rachel, James Mwera, Yang Tingting Rui, Etienne Breton, Andrew Zulu, Jere Behrman, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2024. "Cohort Profile: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Cohort of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH)." BMJ Open 14: e079631. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-079631.
Kohler, Iliana V., Chiwoza Bandawe, Alberto Ciancio, Fabrice Kämpfen, Collin Payne, James Mwera, James Mkandawire, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2020. "Cohort Profile: The Mature Adults Cohort of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH-MAC)." BMJ Open 10: e038232. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-038232.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
With several rounds of data collection from more than 8,000 individuals, the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health has been used to investigate:
- the influence of social networks on HIV-related behaviors and perceptions,
- the HIV prevention strategies employed by individuals in rural high-HIV prevalence contexts,
- the relationship between life-course transitions and HIV infection risks,
- the acceptability of HIV testing and counseling (HTC) and the consequences of HTC on subsequent behaviors,
- the health and well-being across the life-course of individuals facing multiple challenges resulting from high disease burdens and widespread poverty,
- intergenerational relations and transfers,
- determinants of cognition and cognitive decline at older ages,
- the prevalence of hypertension and the consequences of screening for hypertension,
- adolescent HIV risk and adverse childhood environments,
- the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and determinants of COVID-19 risks,
- the demography of mental health and the impact of life-course adversities on depression and anxiety,
- the long-term consequences of in-utero famine exposure on health at older ages, and
- the implications of mortality misperceptions and sexual behavior and life-course decisions-making.
Sample View help for Sample
Each cohort of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH) incorporated unique sampling strategies. MLSFH cohort profiles, which include information on sampling, the refreshment and extension of the MLSFH sample overtime, the procedures for HIV testing and counseling, and other study procedures, can be found on the MLSFH website. The cohort profiles also provide comparisons of the MLSFH study populations with nationally representative datasets.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Adults and children from Malawi.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
To work with the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH) data, users are encouraged to begin with the Data Key files (Public-Use DS1, Restricted-Use DS2). The Data Key contains summary information about all MLSFH respondents who were ever contacted by the MLSFH, including basic socioeconomic and demographic information, survey outcomes at various rounds, and some key health information. All variables in the MLSFH Data Key have the prefix "DK", and all variables collected during the MLSFH rounds are prefixed by "M1" (for 1998 Round 1), "M9" (for 2017 Round 9), etc. Variables with the same name generally pertain to the same question over time, but verification based on the questionnaire is required as questions sometimes changed over time (either the question itself, or the coding of the responses).
The variable RESPONDENTID identifies respondents across all datasets and can be used to merge additional MLSFH data to the Data Key or with each other.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2008-05-21
Version History View help for Version History
2026-03-04 This collection was updated to include data and documentation through Round 9 of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH). Previously released data and documentation from the Men's and Women's surveys from Rounds 1 and 2 (originally called "Wave 1" and "Wave 2") were re-released, but their combined datasets (e.g., combined husbands and wives datasets) are no longer available with this collection. Additionally, the Round 1 and 2 data are now listed after the newly added Data Key and have been re-named to conform with the filenaming conventions of the proceeding rounds of data that have been added to the collection. Data from Rounds 1 and 2 also received additional confidentiality protections given the expanded scope of the MLSFH project since their initial release.
2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
- Kohler, Hans-Peter, and Susan Cotts Watkins. Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH), 1998-2021. ICPSR20840-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-03-04. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR20840.v2
2008-05-21 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.
This study was originally processed, archived, and disseminated by Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR), a project funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).