An empirical investigation of the relationship between consanguineous marriage and prevalence of β-thalassemia in Punjab, Pakistan

A cross-sectional study

Abstract

It is a striking fact that β-thalassemia has become a common single gene disorder among the children. Among the contributing factors, overwhelmed practice of consanguineous marriage is one of the most prominent reason of the high rate prevalence of β-thalassemia in Pakistan. Therefore, the present research was conducted to investigate the relationship between consanguineous marriage and prevalence of β-thalassemia in Punjab, Pakistan. The nature of study was cross-sectional and quantitative. The study was conducted in the Children’s Hospital, Lahore and Multan. Purposive sampling technique was used and sample of 300 parents was drawn. A well-structured research questionnaire was used to collect the data from the parents. The results indicate that rate of β –Thalassemia is significantly higher (76.7%) in first cousin marriage as compared to the second cousin marriage (23.3%). The trend of thalassemia major among male patients is higher (76.31%) in first cousin marriage as compared to the second cousin marriage (23.69%). Similarly, the prevalence of thalassemia Intermedia is significantly prevalent higher (67.5%) among male patients in first cousin marriage as compared to the second cousin marriage. The above findings can be concluded that there was a strong relationship between consanguineous marriage and prevalence of β-thalassemia in Punjab, Pakistan.