Paternal Asthma is a Predictor for Childhood Asthma in the Consanguineous Families from the United Arab Emirates |
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Authors: | Maries Joseph Taoufik Zoubeidi Sherina M Al-Dhaheri Aysha Ahmed Al-Dhaheri Afra A Al-Dhaheri Fatima M Al-Kaabi |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Pediatrics, UCSF Fresno, Pediatrics, Fresno, 93701, United States;2. FMHS, UAE University, Biostatistics, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates;3. Department of Internal Medicine, Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates |
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Abstract: | Consanguinity is known to increase the burden of genetic disorders among offspring. However, the effect of consanguinity on a complex disorder like childhood asthma has not been studied previously. Therefore, we explored this relationship by studying the asthma prevalence in children between 6 and 14 years of age among the local Arab families of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where consanguinity is known to be highly prevalent. A total of 1136 children from 295 families met our inclusion criteria. The prevalence of childhood asthma was higher among children in consanguineous families (43.3%) compared to non-consanguineous (22.6%, p < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the degree of consanguinity and the number of asthmatic children per family (p = 0.0002). Girls from consanguineous families had proportionately more asthma (42.9%, p < 0.001) compared to boys (23.1%, p = 0.539).Paternal asthma in consanguineous families increased asthma risk for both boys and girls (p = 0.021 for boys, p < 0.001 for girls), while maternal asthma had no significant impact on asthma in offspring. Prevalence of childhood asthma was significantly higher in consanguineous families. The significant asthma predictors for girls from the consanguineous families were the degree of consanguinity and paternal asthma. The only predictor for boys was paternal asthma. These interesting observations merit further studies on both larger samples and in other consanguineous communities for confirmation. |
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Keywords: | asthma childhood asthma consanguinity paternal asthma United Arab Emirates asthma prevalence |
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