Documentation
Description:
The Monongahela -Youghiogheny Healthy Aging Team (MYHAT) study, at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, is a population-based cohort study of the epidemiology of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older adults.
**Funding**. The MYHAT study has been sponsored since 2005 by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services. It is officially titled *Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Prospective Community Study*, funded under research grant # R37AG023651 (initially R01AG023651). In addition, the Seniors Project (SP) study described below, officially titled *Risk factors for MCI and Dementia in a Diverse Senior Cohort* was funded from 2018-2025 by research grant # R01AG05854901 from NIA.
**Location**. The MYHAT and Seniors Project studies are conducted in selected small towns in Allegheny County of southwestern Pennsylvania. This region was a major steel manufacturing area until the 1970s, subsequently experiencing an economic downturn when that industry wound down.
**Recruitment**. The MYHAT study cohort was initially recruited from 2006 - 2008 by age-stratified random sampling from the publicly available 2004 voter registration lists within the age groups 65-74 years, 75-84 years, and 85+ years. The cohort was replenished between 2016 and 2019 by sampling from the 2014 voter registration lists for age group 65-74 years. Seniors Project recruited participants aged 65+ not by random sampling but by intensive community engagement within the MYHAT area, in three towns within a single postal code.
**Inclusion criteria** at study entry, besides age, were (1) living within the selected small towns, (2) not living in a long-term- care facility, (3) sufficient vision and hearing acuity to undertake neuropsychological testing, (4) decisional capacity to provide informed consent.
**Screening**. After providing written informed consent, all participants underwent brief cognitive screening; those designated as having substantial cognitive impairment were not assessed or followed further.
**Cohort size**: The remaining participants (2006-2008 cohort: N=1982; 2016-2019 cohort: N=703; SP cohort: N=231) underwent a detailed baseline assessment at study entry and agreed to be recontacted for an annual follow-up assessment.
**Dataset size**: All datasets include only participants who agreed to external data sharing at the time of consent.
Coverage
Spatial:
US
Follow Up:
Unknown
Provenance
Temporal
Accrual Periodicity:
Static
Start Date:
01 January 2026
Time Lag:
Not applicable
Accessibility
Access
Access Rights:
See dataset for details. Access data at:
Usage
Resource Creators:
MYHAT Seniors Project
Observations
Statistical Population
Population Description
Population Size
Measured Property
Observation Date
Persons
2872
Count
01 January 2026