Consanguineous Marriage and Its Effect on Offspring Congenital Malformation: A Study among Palestinian Rural Community

Objective: Consanguineous marriage is a long-standing socially accepted practice among Palestinian population. It is proposed that consanguineous marriages increase the risk of congenital malformations and genetic disorders. This study aimed to determine the health consequences of consanguinity on congenital malformations in Yata rural population, Hebron, Palestine. Methods: A cross-sectional household-survey study was conducted on 500 married women. All the women were interviewed personally using a structured questionnaire. A family pedigree was constructed to study the type of consanguineous marriages. Results: The prevalence rate of consanguineous marriages in the present study was 61%, where first-cousin marriages representing 34.8% of all marriages. The genitourinary system was the most common malformation, where was reported by 17.4% of the 305 consanguineous married parents, and 15.2% of the 105 non-consanguineous married parents. The gastrointestinal system defects was the second most affected anatomical system in frequency in 6.2% of the 305 consanguineous married parents, and 13.3% of the 105 non-consanguineous married parents. Conclusion: The study revealed that consanguinity has adverse health consequences on offspring of consanguineous couples. There is a need for genetic counseling to increase the awareness of the health consequences of consanguineous marriages.The authors of this paper would like to thank the School of Public Health, Al Quds University in Palestine. As well as, the authors would like to thank both the all participants of this study, the field workers, the Municipality of Yatta, and the higher education ethical committee of Al Quds University