Consanguinity and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a case-control study

Background

Consanguineous marriage is widely practised across the world. Its effect on acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is controversial as both parents share some of the genes which might increase the incidence of sharing recessive genes. However, other theories suggest that consanguinity might have a protective factor as it does for other types of cancers. This study aims to study childhood ALL and consanguinity.

Methods

This is a case-control study, conducted in the major paediatric hospital in Damascus, Syria, using medical records. Case group included children with ALL, while control group included other patients and were matched by gender and age.

Results

This study comprised 386 patients, 193 of which were cases. Overall, 136 were of consanguineous marriages (36.8%), and there was no difference in consanguinity overall between cases and controls. However, when only comparing non-consanguineous parents and fourth-degree consanguinity, fourth degree was significantly higher among case group, suggesting a negative correlation OR = 0.387 (0.187–0.801) in contrast to third-degree consanguinity which was no significantly different when comparing the two groups (p > 0.05). We found no significant association between ALL and having a family history of cancer (p > 0.05) or between parents’ educational level and case-control groups (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

Our research suggests a negative association between fourth-degree consanguinity and childhood leukaemia. This was not observed with a third-degree consanguinity. Previous studies had contradicting data on consanguinity and ALL which demonstrates the need for further research.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of adolescents in Upper Egypt on gender-based violence, with a focus on early girls' marriage

BACKGROUND

A large proportion of the female population all over the world, particularly in developing countries, experience some form of gender-based violence (GBV) during their life. Early marriage, a form of GBV, is particularly highly prevalent in rural Upper Egypt.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the current study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of adolescents in Upper Egypt on domestic GBV, with a focus on early girls' marriage.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

The study was a cross-sectional descriptive household survey targeting 400 randomly selected adolescent boys and girls aged 11-16 years from five villages of Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt.

RESULTS

The proportion of interviewed adolescents who could identify certain practices as forms of GBV was relatively low: the identified practices were mainly deprivation of work (9.0%), deprivation of inheritance (3.3%), arbitrary neglect and desertion (2.8%), and preventing from visiting relatives (0.5%). Abusive sexual behavior was not identified by any of the study participants as a form of domestic GBV. A total of 112 boys (56.0%) reported that they have been perpetrators in domestic GBV events at least once and 118 girls (59.0%) reported that they have been actual victims of domestic GBV. An overall 65.6% of study participants could correctly identify the legal age of marriage as 18 years, yet only 22.0% identified earlier ages of marriage as a form of domestic GBV. The vast majority of girls and boys reported that they would not agree to get married before the age of 18 years (91.0 and 87.0%, respectively).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Adolescents in Upper Egypt demonstrated a less than satisfactory knowledge about the forms of GBV. Although early girls' marriage was not universally recognized by adolescents as a form of domestic GBV, they demonstrated satisfactory knowledge about the legal age of marriage, as well as a tendency to abandon the practice. Establishing a community-based awareness program for adolescents of both sexes about GBV with a focus on early girls' marriage is highly recommended.