Association among education level, occupation status, and consanguinity in Tunisia and Croatia

To investigate the association between education level, occupation status (a proxy for socio-economic status), and consanguinity in 2 large data sets from Tunisia and Croatia countries with different attitudes toward consanguinity.

The sample of 1016 students, attending 5 university institutions in Monastir, Tunisia, were interviewed about the educational level and occupation status of their parents and the degree of parental relatedness. In Croatia, a sample of 1001 examinees from 9 isolated island populations was interviewed about their own educational level, occupation status, and consanguinity.

Prevalence of consanguinity (offspring of second cousins or closer) among 1016 Tunisian students was 20.1%, and 9.3% among 1001 Croatian isolates. In Tunisia, the association between consanguinity and both parental degree of education and parental occupation status was highly significant in women (P<0.001), but not significant in men. In Croatia, no statistically significant associations were noted, although there was a consistent trend of increased prevalence of consanguinity with lower education level or occupation status in both genders, but more pronounced in women.

Association between education level, socio-economic status, and consanguinity needs to be taken into account in inbreeding studies in human populations. The relationship may be specific for each studied population and highly dependent on the cultural context. It is generally more pronounced among women in most settings.