Dynamics of indexes of reproduction and selection in three generations of the urbanized population

Abstract

Aim. Due to the fact that women's reproductive behavior has been changing with the development of civilization, from natural uncontrolled fertility in the early stages of human development to reproductive technologies in our time, the aim of this work was to study the direction and intensity of natural selection index and changes of the quantitative characteristics of reproduction in women residents of Kharkiv in three successive generations. Methods. Material was collected in 1990 and 2017. The obstetric and gynecological history of the inhabitants of Kharkiv was studied. The first generation included 589 women who were born in 1900–1925, 244 women born in the period 1928–1955, made up the second generation, 288 women who were born in 1956–1979, were assigned to third generation. Results. The total selection index is reduced from 0.56 in the first generation to 0.29 and 0.28 in the second and third generations, respectively. Over the eighty-year period, the differential fertility rate has decreased. The percentage of women with pathological pregnancies increased from 4.9 in the first generation, to 22.5 in the second and 18.4 in the third generation. Conclusions. The total selection index in the Kharkiv population into three successive generations has decreased by half: from 0.56 to 0.28, the index of differential mortality has decreased by almost four times.
 Keywords: reproductive characteristics, Kharkov population, Crow's index, selection, generations.