Özet:

OBJECTIVE: Turkey has an estimated population of 80 million, with a young age structure and a moderately high birth rate. Previous reports have shown that marriages between couples related as second cousins or closer accounts for 20% of the total, varying by region from 3% to 40% . Social, cultural and economic variables all appear to be important factors in determining local and regional levels of consanguinity. The present study was undertaken to assess the rates and types of consanguineous marriages and their relationship to age at marriage and education level and medical outcomes in the Kırıkkale city, middle Anatolia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five different districts of the city representing different socio-economic circumstances. Questionnaries were given to 1000 families. Then interwieved with mother or father, with details on characteristics such as marital age, educational level, the degree of biological relatedness of the parents and health status of the memberships of the 691 families. RESULTS: The overall rate of consanguinity was 20.4% in Kırıkkale. The principal type of consanguineous marriage recorded was between first cousins, which accounted for 48.9% of all unions. For both sexes of parents, a significant negative association was observed between consanguinity and mean age at marriage and level of education. There was not any hereditary disorder in our small sample population. CONCLUSIONS: Consanguineous marriage frequenciy was higher in Kırıkkale. In this context, it is important to develop national policies and strategies to prevent consanguineous marriagess in Turkey.

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