A pilot cross-sectional household survey of up to 600 adults aged 40 and older in Tecpan, Guatemala has established the foundational protocol for ELEGUA — the Longitudinal Study of Aging in Guatemala. The survey, administered in both Spanish and Kaqchikel Mayan, collected comprehensive cognitive assessments modeled on the Health and Retirement Study and Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol, alongside physical measurements and venous blood samples. Guatemala's population is approximately 40% Indigenous Maya across 22 distinct languages, yet remains entirely absent from population-based aging research.
The absence of aging data from Latin American Indigenous populations is a significant blind spot in global longevity science. Most foundational dementia and cognitive decline research draws from European or North American cohorts, creating substantial uncertainty about whether risk factors, protective mechanisms, and intervention thresholds translate across populations with different genetic backgrounds, nutritional histories, and environmental exposures. Guatemala's distinct epidemiological profile — marked by high childhood malnutrition rates, infectious disease burden, and rapid demographic transition — may reveal novel aging trajectories that challenge existing models.
This is a preprint posted to medRxiv and has not yet undergone peer review, so methodological and analytical details may change. At this stage, ELEGUA represents infrastructure-building rather than novel findings — its value lies in creating a culturally adapted measurement framework capable of generating longitudinal data over coming decades. The psychometric validation of cognitive tools across Mayan language speakers is particularly meaningful, as language-inappropriate assessments routinely underestimate cognitive function in Indigenous communities. Incremental now, potentially paradigm-shifting long-term.