EFFECTS OF CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGE ON REPRODUCTIVE OUTCOME IN AN ARABCOMMUNITY IN ISRAEL

Intrafamilial marriage is favoured by the Arab community in Israel, al most all of whom live in villages populated by a few (<20) founding fa milies. A previous study in Taibe, a large Arab village located 30 km from Tel Aviv, showed a significantly high malformation rate among inf ants of consanguineous parents. The present study examines the reprodu ctive consequences of parental consanguinity in 610 families from the same village, selected retrospectively through infants routinely seen in the local well baby clinic. All mothers were interviewed with regar d to previous pregnancy outcomes, including abortions, stillbirths, an d neonatal or infant deaths, as well as the degree of consanguinity. I n addition, we analysed the anthropometric measurements of the proband s. The incidence of infant deaths was significantly higher in the inbr ed group (p<0.001). No significant increase in fetal loss between the inbred and outbred groups was observed. There were no differences in a nthropometric features, except for a lower birth weight in the consang uineous group (p<0.035). This study, combined with our previous studie s of the same population, indicates a prominent public health problem associated with consanguineous marriage in the Arab community and a ne ed for specific genetic counselling.