Rom plain areas to valleys and mountains. For a couple of decades, there had been a growing trend among the youths to go abroad and the remittances by Kashmiris settled in economically-Lixisenatide biological activity developed countries form a substantial part of the district’s economy (22). Other common professions are military service, manual jobs, business, and agriculture/farming. The main ethnicities in the district are: Jatt, Rajput, Gujjar, Mirza, Malik, Mughal, Bains-Rajput, Syed, and Butt (22).Sampling sites were classified as rural, peri-urban, or urban. The `rural’ or `urban’ status was established according to the census reports (22,23). A definition of `peri-urban’ was employed for those rural areas which were relatively developed, i.e. had acquired better health and transport facilities or had fused with the expanding urban populations. Data were also obtained on marriage arrangements: arranged, reciprocal, and self-arranged/arranged love marriages. `Arranged marriages’ were those in which the parents/elders of the subject played a key role in identifying the marriage partner; `reciprocal’ or watta-satta marriages involved two exchanged marriages, and `self-arranged or arranged love marriages’ were those in which the subject herself identified the marriage partner, and the marriage was subsequently contracted with the consent of both families. The data were categorized by type of marriage. CU were of four types, i.e. double first cousins (DFC), first cousins (FC), first cousin once removed (FCOR), and second cousins (SC) while the nonconsanguineous unions (NCU) were identified as second cousin once removed, distantly related marriages, and non-related (3). Data were analyzed separately for wife and husband (described here as subject and spouse respectively). Descriptive summaries were generated and statistical significance was calculated by employing 2 and Fisher’s exact test. A possible association between consanguinity and HIV-1 integrase inhibitor 2 biological activity demographic variables was analyzed by comparing consanguineous with non-consanguineous marriages. The differences in the occurrences of CU within the sociodemographic variables were established with odds ratios, and the minimum number was taken as reference in each category. ICF was estimated from the weighted proportions of individual CU categories (3).MethodsA total of 1,584 married females originating from three tehsils and 24 sampling sites of Bhimber district were randomly recruited (1,800 contacted; response rate 88 ) (Figure 1) (24). A retrospective questionnaire-based study was carried out for nine months from January 2010 to September 2010. Only the married females, aged 16-70 years, who were permanent residents of Bhimber and were willing to provide complete information, were included. There were an estimated 60,109 married women of childbearing age (15-49 years) in Bhimber district (21). Hence, the proportion of the sampled marriages to the total marriages in Bhimber population was at least 0.022. Before filling of proforma, each subject was briefed about the purpose and the likely outcome of the study. After a formal informed consent from each married female, detailed information was obtained on a structured proforma on marital type, consanguinity level, and key demographic parameters (ethnicity/caste, rural/urban origin, occupation, literacy, mother tongue, family structure, etc.) of the subject and the spouse.Volume 32 | Number 2 | JuneRESULTS Consanguineous unionsOf the total 1,584 subjects recruited in the current stu.Rom plain areas to valleys and mountains. For a couple of decades, there had been a growing trend among the youths to go abroad and the remittances by Kashmiris settled in economically-developed countries form a substantial part of the district’s economy (22). Other common professions are military service, manual jobs, business, and agriculture/farming. The main ethnicities in the district are: Jatt, Rajput, Gujjar, Mirza, Malik, Mughal, Bains-Rajput, Syed, and Butt (22).Sampling sites were classified as rural, peri-urban, or urban. The `rural’ or `urban’ status was established according to the census reports (22,23). A definition of `peri-urban’ was employed for those rural areas which were relatively developed, i.e. had acquired better health and transport facilities or had fused with the expanding urban populations. Data were also obtained on marriage arrangements: arranged, reciprocal, and self-arranged/arranged love marriages. `Arranged marriages’ were those in which the parents/elders of the subject played a key role in identifying the marriage partner; `reciprocal’ or watta-satta marriages involved two exchanged marriages, and `self-arranged or arranged love marriages’ were those in which the subject herself identified the marriage partner, and the marriage was subsequently contracted with the consent of both families. The data were categorized by type of marriage. CU were of four types, i.e. double first cousins (DFC), first cousins (FC), first cousin once removed (FCOR), and second cousins (SC) while the nonconsanguineous unions (NCU) were identified as second cousin once removed, distantly related marriages, and non-related (3). Data were analyzed separately for wife and husband (described here as subject and spouse respectively). Descriptive summaries were generated and statistical significance was calculated by employing 2 and Fisher’s exact test. A possible association between consanguinity and demographic variables was analyzed by comparing consanguineous with non-consanguineous marriages. The differences in the occurrences of CU within the sociodemographic variables were established with odds ratios, and the minimum number was taken as reference in each category. ICF was estimated from the weighted proportions of individual CU categories (3).MethodsA total of 1,584 married females originating from three tehsils and 24 sampling sites of Bhimber district were randomly recruited (1,800 contacted; response rate 88 ) (Figure 1) (24). A retrospective questionnaire-based study was carried out for nine months from January 2010 to September 2010. Only the married females, aged 16-70 years, who were permanent residents of Bhimber and were willing to provide complete information, were included. There were an estimated 60,109 married women of childbearing age (15-49 years) in Bhimber district (21). Hence, the proportion of the sampled marriages to the total marriages in Bhimber population was at least 0.022. Before filling of proforma, each subject was briefed about the purpose and the likely outcome of the study. After a formal informed consent from each married female, detailed information was obtained on a structured proforma on marital type, consanguinity level, and key demographic parameters (ethnicity/caste, rural/urban origin, occupation, literacy, mother tongue, family structure, etc.) of the subject and the spouse.Volume 32 | Number 2 | JuneRESULTS Consanguineous unionsOf the total 1,584 subjects recruited in the current stu.