<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_abm-2018-0022_s_007_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c17b1Aa"><h3>Background</h3><p>Despite the high sociocultural preferences in contracting marriages among close relatives in Pakistan, marked regional differences exist in the prevalence of consanguinity. There is great interest to elucidate the sociodemographic variables underlying the heterogeneity in consanguinity prevalence in the various populations. The present study was conducted in the Mardan district of Pakistan, the second largest multiethnic Pashtun metropolis.</p></sec><sec id="j_abm-2018-0022_s_008_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c17b2Aa"><h3>Objective</h3><p>To find determinants of consanguineous unions.</p></sec><sec id="j_abm-2018-0022_s_009_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c17b3Aa"><h3>Methods</h3><p>In a cross-sectional study design, a convenience sample of 1,202 ever-married men from 3 <italic>tehsils</italic> of Mardan district was recruited in an unselected manner and data regarding their marital union types and sociodemographic variables were obtained by a structured interview. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used.</p></sec><sec id="j_abm-2018-0022_s_010_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c17b4Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>Consanguineous unions accounted for 44% of all marriages, and the inbreeding coefficient was calculated as 0.0258. Regression analyses revealed that 6 variables were significant predictors of consanguinity, namely, tehsil, age, year of marriage, caste (<italic>zaat/biradari</italic>) system, area of house, and marriage arrangement of the respondent, while 6 other variables, namely, rural/urban origin, literacy, occupation, monthly income, household type, and number of family members, were not found to be significant. Regression analyses showed that there were different combinations of variables predictive of consanguinity among the various <italic>tehsils</italic>.</p></sec><sec id="j_abm-2018-0022_s_011_w2aab3b7b3b1b6b1aab1c17b5Aa"><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The prevalence of consanguinity in the Mardan district was found to be lower than that in many other districts of Pakistan. National regional differences exist in consanguinity, and the combination of predictive factors varies greatly.</p></sec></abstract>

BackgroundDespite the high sociocultural preferences in contracting marriages among close relatives in Pakistan, marked regional differences exist in the prevalence of consanguinity. There is great interest to elucidate the sociodemographic variables underlying the heterogeneity in consanguinity prevalence in the various populations. The present study was conducted in the Mardan district of Pakistan, the second largest multiethnic Pashtun metropolis.ObjectiveTo find determinants of consanguineous unions.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study design, a convenience sample of 1,202 ever-married men from 3 tehsils of Mardan district was recruited in an unselected manner and data regarding their marital union types and sociodemographic variables were obtained by a structured interview. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used.ResultsConsanguineous unions accounted for 44% of all marriages, and the inbreeding coefficient was calculated as 0.0258. Regression analyses revealed that 6 variables were significant predictors of consanguinity, namely, tehsil, age, year of marriage, caste (zaat/biradari) system, area of house, and marriage arrangement of the respondent, while 6 other variables, namely, rural/urban origin, literacy, occupation, monthly income, household type, and number of family members, were not found to be significant. Regression analyses showed that there were different combinations of variables predictive of consanguinity among the various tehsils.ConclusionsThe prevalence of consanguinity in the Mardan district was found to be lower than that in many other districts of Pakistan. National regional differences exist in consanguinity, and the combination of predictive factors varies greatly.

Determinants of consanguinity and inbreeding coefficient in the multiethnic population of Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Asian Biomedicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

BackgroundDespite the high sociocultural preferences in contracting marriages among close relatives in Pakistan, marked regional differences exist in the...

Determinants of consanguinity and inbreeding coefficient in the multiethnic population of Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Article Category: Original article

Published Online: Dec 30, 2017

Page range: 451 - 460

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/abm-2018-0022

Keywords
consanguinity, cousin unions, epidemiology, inbreeding coefficient, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mardan, Pakistani, Pashtuns, public health

© 2017 Muhammad Tufail et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Determinants of consanguinity and inbreeding coefficient in the multiethnic population of Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Article Category: Original article

Published Online: Dec 30, 2017

Page range: 451 - 460

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/abm-2018-0022

Keywordsconsanguinity, cousin unions, epidemiology, inbreeding coefficient, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mardan, Pakistani, Pashtuns, public health

© 2017 Muhammad Tufail et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
consanguinity, cousin unions, epidemiology, inbreeding coefficient, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mardan, Pakistani, Pashtuns, public health