IngentaConnect Establishing a twin register in Sri Lanka

Authors: Sumathipala, A.¹; Fernando, D.J.S.²; Siribaddana, S.H.³; Abeysingha, M.R.N.⁴; Jayasekare, R.W.⁵; Dissanayake, V.H.W.⁵; De Silva, N.⁶

Source: Twin Research, Volume 3, Number 4, 1 December 2000 , pp. 202-204(3)

Publisher: Australian Academic Press

Abstract:

Nearly all twin registers are based in developed countries and there is no twin registerin the developing world. Our objectives were to initiate the process of establishing anationwide twin register in Sri Lanka by starting a volunteer register first and workingtowards a population-based register. Regular newspaper advertisements, featurearticles, radio talks, and television programmes were used to publicise a competitionfor twins, their parents/relatives and friends requesting them to participate by sendingin details of twins. The competition ran from 28 March 1997 for a period of 3 months. Itoffered prizes for three winners selected by drawing lots. Advertisements highlightedthe objective of the competition as establishing a twin register for future research andemphasised that informed consent would be obtained for individual research projects.Those who registered comprise 4602 twin pairs (same sex: male - 1564, female - 1885; different sex - 1153), 80 sets of triplets (same sex: male - 17, female - 31; different sex - 42) and two sets of quadruplets (different sex). Theoldest twins, triplets, quadruplets are 85, 46, and 5 years old, respectively; 88.0% oftwins are less than 30 years old. Although others have previously used media publicity toenrol twins in twin registers, we believe this to be the first time that twins have beenenrolled through competition. We have more young twins, and our gender and zygosityproportions after applying Weinburg's rule do not match the proportions expectedfrom a volunteer twin sample. Establishing a twin register for research purposes hasproved possible in a developing country.

Keywords: volunteer register; competition for twins; newspaper advertisements; Weinberg differential method

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1375/136905200320565157

Affiliations: 1: Section of Epidemiology and General Practice, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, University of London, DenmarkHill, London, UK 2: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Sri Jayewardenepura University, Sri Lanka 3: Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka 4: Epidemiology Unit, Colombo, Sri Lanka 5: Department of Anatomy, Medical Faculty, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka 6: National Twin Registry Project, 6 Wijerama Road, Colombo, Sri Lanka

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