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

Sherien A.Nasser; Fatma Hussein; Heba Tallah Sherif Abd El Hady; Nagwa A.Meguid

doi:10.26599/JOTO.2025.9540016

Abstract：Background: Although various research has demonstrated the connection between consanguinity and health issues, consanguineous marriage is still common in Egypt with a high prevalence rate of 35.3%, 23.5% in semi-urban, and 17.7% in urban areas. Methods: This study was conducted on 434 native Arabic-speaking Egyptian children (3-10 years) who visited the Special Needs Clinic at the National Research Centre over one year, presenting with hearing or/and language problems. 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. Results: The prevalence of consanguineous marriage in all participants (n=434) was 31.6% with a 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). Conclusions: The frequency of consanguineous marriages in our participants was 31.6%, which was close to that reported in the Egyptian population. Absence of significant association between consanguinity and language problems warrants further investigation and points to the role of genetic-environment interplay in cases of language delay.