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CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES IN AFGHANISTAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2011

KHYBER SAIFY  and
MOSTAFA SAADAT
KHYBER SAIFY
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
MOSTAFA SAADAT
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
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Summary

The present cross-sectional study was done in order to illustrate the prevalence and types of consanguineous marriages among Afghanistan populations. Data on types of marriages were collected using a simple questionnaire. The total number of couples in the study was 7140 from the following provinces: Badakhshan, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Kabul, Kunduz, Samangan and Takhar. Consanguineous marriages were classified by the degree of relationship between couples: double first cousins, first cousins, first cousins once removed, second cousins and beyond second cousins. The coefficient of inbreeding (F) was calculated for each couple and the mean coefficient of inbreeding (α) estimated for each population. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country was 46.2%, ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province. The equivalent mean inbreeding coefficient (α) was 0.0277, and ranged from 0.0221 to 0.0293 in these two regions. There were significant differences between provinces for frequencies of different types of marriages (p<0.001). First cousin marriages (27.8%) were the most common type of consanguineous marriages, followed by double first cousin (6.9%), second cousin (5.8%), beyond second cousin (3.9%) and first cousin once removed (1.8%). There were significant differences between ethnic groups for the types of marriages (χ2=177.6, df=25, p<0.001). Tajiks (Soni) and Turkmens (also Pashtuns) showed the lowest (α=0.0250) and highest (α=0.0297) mean inbreeding coefficients, respectively, among the ethnic groups in Afghanistan. The study shows that Afghanistan's populations, like other Islamic populations, have a high level of consanguinity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 73 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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