CONSANGUINITY AND ASSOCIATED SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS IN THE UNITED-ARAB-EMIRATES

The aim of this study was to explore the association between socio-dem ographic factors and consanguineous marriages in the United Arab Emira tes (UAE). This was a cross-sectional population-based study conducted in the cities of Al Ain and Dubai between October 1994 and March 1995 , A multi-stage sampling design was used and a representative total sa mple of 2,200 UAE females aged 15 years and above were included in thi s study. Data on 2,033 (85.8%) UAE national families who consented to participate in the study were obtained. The rate of consanguineous mar riages in the sample was found to be 50.5% with 95% estimated populati on confidence limits 49.2-51.8 %. The socio-demographic factors consid ered were: husband's age, wife's age, husband's and wife's educational levels, husband's occupation, wife's occupation, housing conditions, husband's parental kinship, wife's parental kinship, and kinship betwe en the spouses. Consanguinity is more common among women with educated husbands (secondary or university/high) than among women with less ed ucated husbands. The results indicate that the frequency of consanguin eous marriages significantly increases when the husband's educational level is higher (p = 0.003). The distribution of relationship between spouses over the two generations of the study group and their parents is presented. The incidence of consanguineous marriages among the pare nts is 53% and 62% for the women and their husbands, respectively, and the overall incidence is 57%. The parallel patrilateral marriage is o bviously the favoured practice when considering the parent's kinship d istributions. The results of stepwise multiple logistic regression ana lysis for the occurrence of consanguineous marriages show that the hus band's education and husband's parents' consanguinity status only are significantly associated variables.