Prevalence of Consanguineous Marriage among Saudi Citizens of Albaha, a Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Consanguineous marriage (CM) is a prevalent kind of relationship in Muslim and Arab countries, and this type of relationship is linked to several health risks. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of (CM), its associated hereditary diseases, and health-related issues among Saudi citizens in Albaha. This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2021 to April 2021. Saudi citizens in Albaha who were aged ≥ 18 years and willing to participate were eligible for the study. A total of 1010 participants were included in this study. In total, 757 participants were married, widowed, or divorced. CM partnerships comprised 40% (N = 302) of the marriages among participants, of which first- and second-cousin marriages comprised 72% and 28%, respectively. The prevalence of CM among the participants’ parents was lower than that among the participants (31% versus 40%, respectively). Children of participants in a CM were more likely to have cardiovascular diseases (p < 0.001), blood diseases (anaemia, thalassemia) (p < 0.001), cancer (p = 0.046), hearing loss and speech disorder (p = 0.003), and ophthalmic diseases (p = 0.037). Albaha showed a high percentage of consanguinity. An educational program must be established to enhance the population’s knowledge of the consequences of CM. The current national premarital screening program should be extended to involve more screening tests for common hereditary diseases that result from CM.

Consanguineous marriages, premarital screening, and genetic testing: a survey among Saudi university students

“…A study conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on a relatively small group of educated couples stated that 39.8% of CMs in their selected group ( 20 ). A recent cross-sectional study mentioned a 40% prevalence of CMs in Albaha province in KSA ( 21 ). They mentioned an astounding result: CM prevalence was higher among their study participants than their parents (40% vs. 31%).…”

Consanguineous Marriage and Its Association With Genetic Disorders in Saudi Arabia: A Review

“…This study highlighted that out of these marriages, first- and second-cousin unions constituted 72% and 28%, respectively. Notably, when comparing the prevalence of consanguineous marriages between the study participants and their parents, a lower rate was observed in the older generation (31%) as opposed to the participants (40%) [ 36 ].…”

Investigating the prevalence of pathogenic variants in Saudi Arabian patients with familial cancer using a multigene next generation sequencing panel

“…As the prevalence of FCS and cancer-related mortality in the Saudi population appears to be increasing [6,7,[13][14][15][16][17][18], an understanding of which pathogenic variants (PVs) are prevalent in the Saudi population has practical value. As approximately 40% of all marriages in Saudi Arabia are between relatives [19,20], it is important to inform related individuals who wish to marry about the risk to future offspring of inheriting cancer-associated alleles from both parents. Moreover, knowing which variants in which genes contribute to the cancer incidence in Saudi populations would allow both for genetic screening and for physicians to recommend preventative measures, including surgical interventions or simply regular physical or radiological screening, to those at high risk due to inheritance of mutations.…”

“…Recent advances in the field of medical genomics and, in particular in the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS), have opened new avenues for a better understanding of the underlying genetic risk factors for cancer [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. NGS gene panels allow for the screening of multiple cancer-associated genes simultaneously, making them a cost-effective and time-saving way to detect familial variants [13,16].…”