Familial aggregation of congenital dislocation of the hip in a Norwegian population

Previous studies of congenital dislocation of the hip have not used adequate control groups in estimating the level of genetic influence on that trait. Furthermore, it could not be demonstrated that alleged maternal effects were not an artifact of reporting bias. To that end, information was obtained on the presence of the anomaly in the families of adult twins and their spouses participating in the Norwegian Twin Registry. The prevalence odds ratio for having that disorder in first degree relatives was 10.0. Stratifying by class of relatives, the prevalence odds ratio was 8.1 for fathers, 35.8 for mothers, 12.7 for siblings, and 3.3 for offspring. The increased prevalence odds ratio for mothers over that of fathers suggests a maternal effect. Since both males and females reported on the anomaly for each parental type, it is unlikely that the difference in prevalence odds ratios is due to general reporting bias.