A Prospective Study for the Outcomes of Thalassemia in Kirkuk 2016

Background: thalassemia is one of the most globally common chronic hematological disorder. this inherited disorder is characterized by an abnormal production of hemoglobin protein resulting in a life-threatening disease of two main types α and β.in kirkuk city it was found that, β-thalassemia was the most common disorder and various factors were found to be contributing to the counts of β-thalassemia including ethnic origins and migration that added more burden on the genetic pool of the region and on the inheritance of traits in that area. objective: evaluating the prevalence of thalassemia in kirkuk city according to a number of parameters that included age, gender and ethnic background of patients along with the assessment of the effect of consanguinity marriage on the incidence of the disease. patients &methods: total of (156) clinically diagnosed β-thalassemia patients attending “thalassemia unit “ in azadi teaching hospital in kirkuk city were questionaired and data were divided into four cohorts for evaluation; followed by statistical analysis. results: no significant difference was detected in β-thalassemia distribution among males and females in kirkuk city 2016; β-thalassemia was more prevalent in children born following the years of insecurity in the country generally and kirkuk city especially. in addition, about (77.56%) of β-thalassemia patients were the outcomes of consanguinity marriage from the first degree cousin whom affected with β- thalassemia minor without their knowledge. additionally, the distribution of β – thalassemia patients between different ethnic groups living in kirkuk and the surrounding areas indicated a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the incidence of β – thalassemia in turkman patients who had recorded the lowest incidence rate of (17.31%) compared to the kurd patients where they recorded the incidence rate of (37.18%) and arabs where they recorded the highest incidence rate of (45.52%) among total of (156) β –thalassemia patients where most of them came from rural areas or were internally displaced people. conclusions: β- thalassemia disorder is one of the prevalent inherited diseases in kirkuk city with increasing frequency among children in the ages of (1-3) years old. besides, the distribution of β- thalassemia disorder did not vary among males and females in kirkuk city in the year 2016 and it was concluded that, the frequency of β- thalassemia showed an increase in the years following wars and invasions in kirkuk city. moreover, consanguinity marriage increases the frequency of β- thalassemia incidence among both male and female patients. additionally, individuals with minor β- thalassemia increase the ratio of β- thalassemia incidence among their children and the distribution of β- thalassemia differ according to different ethnic groups.