CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGE IN AN URBAN AREA OF SAUDI-ARABIA - RATES AND ADVERSE HEALTH-EFFECTS ON THE OFFSPRING

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the patte rn and time trend of consanguineous marriage and its adverse health ef fects on the offspring in Dammam city, Eastern Province, in the Kingdo m of Saudi Arabia. This city is known to attract Saudis from different parts of the coutry because it is in the heart of this industrial reg ion. Five primary health care centers were randomly selected from diff erent sectors of the city in addition to the city's only Maternity and Children's Hospital. For inclusion in the study a wife must have at l east one pregnancy that terminated in either full term liveborn baby, still birth, or abortion. A total of 1307 ever-married Saudis complete d a pre-structured questionnaire during an interview The rate of consa nguineous marriage was 52.0% with an average inbreeding coefficient of 0.0312. First-cousin marriages were the commonest (39.3%) of all mati ngs. The consanguineous groups had a significantly higher number of pr egnancies. The mean birth weight of the offspring of consanguineous co uples was not statistically significant being less than that of the no nconsanguineous. However, within the consanguineous groups the more cl osely related couples had smaller babies on average. No significant di fferences were noted for the rates of inherited diseases and reproduct ive wastage. The rate of consanguineous marriage in this city was high and so was the inbreeding coefficient. These figures place this natio n among the countries with a high rate of consanguineous marriages. A nationwide study to determine accurately the relationship between cons anguinity and inherited diseases has much to commend it.