Impact of Consanguineous Marriage on Hearing and Language Disorders: Study Among a Group of Egyptian Children

Even though various research has demonstrated the connection between consanguinity and health issues, consanguineous marriage still common in Egypt with high prevalence rate 35.3%, 23.5% in semi-urban and 17.7% in urban areas.

This study was conducted on 434 native Arabic-speaking Egyptians children (3-10 years) who visited Special Needs Clinic at National Research Centre, among one year presenting with a hearing or /and language problem. They were subjected to psychometric assessment, Conners' Parent Rating Scales-Revised, Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised, Childhood Autism Rating Scale, audiological assessment, and Arabic Preschool Language Scale-4. Participants were classified into 6 subgroups according to the cause of language delay. We estimated the frequency and degree of consanguinity in each group and the association between consanguinity and hearing and language problems.

The prevalence of the consanguineous marriage in all participants (n=434) was 31.6 % with the mean inbreeding coefficient of 0.01208. First cousins' marriages were the most common type of consanguineous marriages (50.3% of consanguineous marriages). Among all participants in the 6 subgroups (n =434), language delay secondary to cognitive delay showed the highest percentage of consanguineous marriages (35%) followed by autism spectrum disorder (32.8%). No significant association between consanguinity and language problems. Among the 78 participants with sensorineural hearing loss, 35.9% of consanguineous couples (no.= 28 cases) were reported versus 64.1 % of non-consanguineous couples (no.= 50 cases).

The Frequency of consanguineous marriages in our participants was 31.6 % which was close to that reported in Egyptian population. Absence of significant association between consanguinity and language problems warrants further investigation and point to the role of genetic - environment interplay in cases of language delay.