Cohort Profile: The Kiang West Longitudinal Population Study (KWLPS)—a platform for integrated research and health care provision in rural Gambia

Abstract

Research on malnutrition and malaria has been conducted in the Kiang West district of The Gambia (West Africa) since 1950, initially through Professor Sir Ian McGregor’s annual anthropometric and health surveys of the rural subsistence farming community in this low- and middle-income country (LMIC) setting (described in more detail elsewhere¹). With the establishment of a permanent field station by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC Keneba) in 1974, research and health provision expanded into the wider community. MRC Keneba is located in the heart of the 750-km² district located in the Lower River Region, which until 2014 had limited road access (Figure 1). Research facilities in KW were initially set up to support nutrition studies, in particular for longitudinal studies of growth in four ‘core villages’ (with ∼ 4000 residents). Since 1989, research studies also recruited participants from the wider district. The establishment of the comprehensive demographic surveillance [Kiang West Demographic Surveillance System (KWDSS)], electronic medical record [Keneba Electronic Medical Records System (KEMReS)] and biobanking platforms (Keneba Biobank) now comprises an integrated system for research and health care provision to the whole of the Kiang West Longitudinal Population Study (KWLPS) cohort (N ∼ 14 000 across 36 villages).