Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-21T21:25:54.537Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

PREVALENCE OF CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES AMONG SHI'A POPULATIONS OF LEBANON

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

GHADIR EL-KHESHEN  and
MOSTAFA SAADAT
GHADIR EL-KHESHEN
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
MOSTAFA SAADAT
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In genetics, a consanguineous marriage means union between couples who are related as second cousins or closer. The present cross-sectional study was carried out in order to illustrate the prevalence and types of consanguineous marriages in the Shi'a population living in widespread territories in Lebanon including the Bekaa Valley, the south of Lebanon and the southern suburb of Beirut. Data on types of marriages were collected using a simple questionnaire. The total number of couples in the study was 1203. Consanguineous marriage was classified by the degree of relationship between couples. The overall frequency of consanguinity was found to be 28.4%, with first cousin marriages (21.3%) being the most common type followed by first cousins once removed (5.5%), then double first cousins (0.8%). The frequencies of second cousin and beyond second cousin marriages were the same at 0.4% of all the marriages. The mean inbreeding coefficient (α) was estimated at about 0.0161 for the population. There were no significant differences between the three studied territories for frequencies of different types of marriages (p>0.1), nor were there significant differences between the rural and urban areas (p>0.1).

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 45 , Issue 5 , September 2013 , pp. 675 - 682
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akrami, S. M. & Osati, Z. (2007) Is consanguineous marriage religiously encouraged? Islamic and Iranian considerations. Journal of Biosocial Science 39, 313–316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alper, O. M., Erengin, H., Manguoglu, A. E., Bilgen, T., Cetin, Z., Dedeoglu, N. & Luleci, G. (2004) Consanguineous marriages in the province of Antalya, Turkey. Annales de génétique 47, 129–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barbari, A., Stephan, A., Masri, M., Karam, A., Aoun, S., El-Nabas, J. & Bou-Khalil, J. (2003) Consanguinity-associated kidney diseases in Lebanon: an epidemiological study. Molecular Immunology 39, 1109–1114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barbour, B. & Salameh, P. (2009) Consanguinity in Lebanon: prevalence, distribution and determinants. Journal of Biosocial Science 41, 505–517.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bittles, A. H. (2001) Consanguinity and its relevance to clinical genetics. Clinical Genetics 60, 89–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
COSIT [Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology] (2005) Iraq Living Conditions Survey 2004. Vol. II: Analytical Report. Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation, Baghdad.Google Scholar
Hazran, Y. (2009) The Shiite community in Lebanon: from marginalization to ascendancy. Crown Center for Middle East Studies 37, 1–7.Google Scholar
Inhorn, M. C., Kobeissi, L., Nassar, Z., Lakkis, D. & Fakih, M. H. (2009) Consanguinity and family clustering of male factor infertility in Lebanon. Fertility and Sterility 91, 1104–1109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joseph, S. E. (2007) “Kissing Cousins”: consanguineous marriage and early mortality in a reproductive isolate. Current Anthropology 48, 756–764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanaan, Z. M., Mahfouz, R. & Tamim, H. (2008) The prevalence of consanguineous marriages in an underserved area in Lebanon and its association with congenital anomalies. Genetic Testing 12, 367–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khlat, M. (1988a) Consanguineous marriage and reproduction in Beirut, Lebanon. American Journal of Human Genetics 43, 188–196.Google ScholarPubMed
Khlat, M. (1988b) Consanguineous marriages in Beirut: time trends, spatial distribution. Social Biology 35, 324–330.Google ScholarPubMed
Klat, M. & Khudr, A. (1986) Religious endogamy and consanguinity in marriage patterns in Beirut, Lebanon. Social Biology 33, 138–145.Google ScholarPubMed
Khoury, S. A. & Massad, D. (1992) Consanguineous marriage in Jordan. American Journal of Medical Genetics 43, 769–775.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mumtaz, M., Nassar, A. H., Mahfoud, Z., El-Khamra, A., Al-Choueiri, N., Adra, A.et al. (2010) Consanguinity: a risk factor for preterm birth at less than 33 weeks' gestation. American Journal of Epidemiology 172, 1424–1430.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Othman, H. & Saadat, M. (2009) Prevalence of consanguineous marriages in Syria. Journal of Biosocial Science 41, 685–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saadat, M. (2008) Is consanguineous marriage historically encouraged? Journal of Biosocial Science 40, 153–154.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saadat, M., Ansari-Lari, M. & Farhud, D. D. (2004) Consanguineous marriage in Iran. Annals of Human Biology 31, 263–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saify, K. & Saadat, M. (2012) Consanguineous marriages in Afghanistan. Journal of Biosocial Science 44, 72–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tadmouri, G. O., Nair, P., Obeid, T., Al Ali, M. T., Al Khaja, N. & Hamamy, H. A. (2009) Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs. Reproductive Health 6, 17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tamim, H., Khogali, M., Beydoun, H., Melki, I., Yunis, K. & The National Collaborative Perinatal Neonatal Network (2003) Consanguinity and apnea of prematurity. American Journal of Epidemiology 158, 942–946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed