The Prevalence of Consanguineous Marriages in the City of Malatya, Turkey

Authors: ŞENGÜL YÜKSEL, AYŞEGÜL KUTLUBAY, LEYLA KARAOĞLU, SAİM YOLOĞLU

Abstract: Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of consanguineous marriages and the associated factors in the city of Malatya. Materials and Methods: Thirty cluster survey methodology was used to select the study population. Selecting 13 married women per cluster, a total of 409 women were interviewed at their home. Information on the sociodemographic and fertility characteristics of the women and genetic disorders among children was gathered using a face-to-face questionnaire. Data analysis was done by SPSSWIN 13.0. Results: The overall prevalence of consanguinity was 28.4%, with a mean inbreeding coefficient of 0.01081. The principal type of consanguineous marriage was first-cousin marriages, which account for 74.2% of all consanguineous unions. There was no association between consanguinity and sociodemographic characteristics of the participants. Consanguineous marriages had significantly more spontaneous abortions, infant deaths and children with a genetic disorder (P<0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of consanguinity and of first-cousin marriages was found to be high in the city of Malatya compared to the studies conducted in the past. Future research on the reasons for and negative outcomes of consanguineous marriages should be conducted.

Keywords: Consanguineous marriage, inbreeding, birth defects

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