Twin study of adolescent genetic susceptibility to mosquito bites using ordinal and comparative rating data

Kirk, Katherine M.; Eaves, Lindon J.; Meyer, Joanne M.; Saul, Allan; Martin, Nicholas G.

doi:10.1002/1098-2272(200009)19:2<178::aid-gepi5>3.0.co;2-3

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Kirk et al, 2000;Swerdlow et al, 2002). For example, in studies of late-onset disease, or in studies of elderly samples, self-report data of phenotypes such as birth-weight, age of onset of menarche, or age at first cigarette, may show low reliabilities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For some traits, however, data may be best collected in terms of comparative ratings. Recently, Kirk et al (2000) applied a method proposed by Eaves et al (1991) to use comparative ratings of being bitten by mosquitoes in twin pairs to determine heritability. They found that the comparative rating (''compared with your twin, who is bitten by mosquitoes more often?'')…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…was more reliable than the individual self-ratings of how often each individual was bitten by mosquitoes. Kirk et al (2000) hypothesized that whereas the ordinal scale in their study did not provide a widely recognized standard against which the personal experience of being bitten by mosquitoes can be compared, the comparison with one's co-twin does provide a convenient standard for comparison. Comparative ratings may therefore aid in assessing subjective experiences which may be difficult to quantify, but can easily be compared to others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Replicated Linkage for Eye Color on 15q Using Comparative Ratings of Sibling Pairs

et al. 2005

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The aim of the study was to perform a genetic linkage analysis for eye color, for comparative data. Similarity in eye color of mono-and dizygotic twins was rated by the twins' mother, their father and/or the twins themselves. For 4748 twin pairs the similarity in eye color was available on a three point scale (''not at all alike''-''somewhat alike''-''completely alike''), absolute eye color on individuals was not assessed. The probability that twins were alike for eye color was calculated as a weighted average of the different responses of all respondents on several different time points. The mean probability of being alike for eye color was 0.98 for MZ twins (2167 pairs), whereas the mean probability for DZ twins was 0.46 (2537 pairs), suggesting very high heritability for eye color. For 294 DZ twin pairs genome-wide marker data were available. The probability of being alike for eye color was regressed on the average amount of IBD sharing. We found a peak LOD-score of 2.9 at chromosome 15q, overlapping with the region recently implicated for absolute ratings of eye color in Australian twins [Zhu,

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Replicated Linkage for Eye Color on 15q Using Comparative Ratings of Sibling Pairs

et al. 2005

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“…For example, Kirk et al . [17] performed a survey on adolescent twins and demonstrated that there was a strong genetic influence on frequency of being bitten by mosquitoes in children between the ages of 12 and 14.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To bite or not to bite! A questionnaire-based survey assessing why some people are bitten more than others by midges

et al. 2010

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BackgroundThe Scottish biting midge, Culicoides impunctatus, responsible for more than 90% of biting attacks on human beings in Scotland, is known to demonstrate a preference for certain human hosts over others.MethodsIn this study we used a questionnaire-based survey to assess the association between people's perception of how badly they get bitten by midges and their demographic, lifestyle and health related characteristics.ResultsMost people (85.8%) reported being bitten sometimes, often or always with only 14.2% reporting never being bitten by midges when in Scotland. There was no association between level of bites received and age, smoking, diet, exercise, medication, eating strongly flavoured foods or alcohol consumption. However, there was a strong association between the probability of being bitten and increasing height (in men) and BMI (in women). A large proportion of participants (33.8%) reported experiencing a bad/severe reaction to midge bites while 53.1% reported a minor reaction and 13.1% no reaction at all. Also, women tend to react more than men to midge bites. Additionally, the results indicated that the susceptibility to being bitten by midges is hereditary.ConclusionsThis study suggests that midges prefer to bite men that are tall and women that have a large BMI, and that the tendency for a child to be bitten or not could be inherited from their parent. The study is questionnaire-based; therefore, the interpretation of the results may be limited by the subjectivity of the answers given by the respondents. Although the results are relevant only to the Scottish biting midge, the approach used here could be useful for investigating human-insect interactions for other insects, particularly those which transmit pathogens that cause disease.

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“…As yet unpublished findings suggest that twin agreement is higher for objective (e.g., age at menarche, breast cancer) than for subjective (e.g., who had greater success) or depreciatory comparisons (e.g., who had more trouble in school; T. Mack, personal communication, March, 2000). Finally, the utility and reliability of twin comparative ratings has been examined in a study on mosquito bites in adolescent twins (Kirk et al, 2000). Findings indicated that perceived twin differences in mosquito bite frequency ('Compared with your twin who is bitten by mosquitoes more often?')…”

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Comparative Rating Measures of Health and Environmental Exposures: How Well Do Twins Agree?

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Turner

Gatz

et al. 2005

twin res hum genet

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Twin study of adolescent genetic susceptibility to mosquito bites using ordinal and comparative rating data

Cited by 15 publications

References 14 publications

Replicated Linkage for Eye Color on 15q Using Comparative Ratings of Sibling Pairs

Replicated Linkage for Eye Color on 15q Using Comparative Ratings of Sibling Pairs

To bite or not to bite! A questionnaire-based survey assessing why some people are bitten more than others by midges

Comparative Rating Measures of Health and Environmental Exposures: How Well Do Twins Agree?

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