Childhood Congenital Deafness and Its Association with Consanguineous Marriage: A Comparative Study on Hereditary Awareness

Adnan Saleem   Umar

doi:10.51253/pafmj.v76i5.11556

Authors

Adnan Saleem Umar Department of ENT, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Hospital, Kamra Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51253/pafmj.v76i5.11556

Keywords:

Awareness, Consanguinity, Congenital Hearing Loss

Abstract

Objective: To find the association between consanguineous marriages and congenital sensorineural deafness.

Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: PAC (Pakistan Aeronautical Complex) Hospital, Kamra, Pakistan, from Feb 2022 to Mar 2023.

Methodology: A total of 120 cases were selected with an age range of 5-15 years. They were divided into two groups of 60 cases each. Group-1 had cases of congenital sensorineural hearing loss, and Group-2 had cases of normal hearing threshold. Hearing loss due to other acquired diseases was not included; the Chi-square test was applied, and an odds ratio was calculated.

Results: Among 120 cases 74(61.66%) were males and 46(38.33%) were females, 68(56.6%) children’s parents were blood related and 52(43.3%) children parents had no blood relation. Out of the blood-related consanguineous marriages, 48(70.56%) were 1st cousins and 20(29.41%) were 2nd cousins. In Group-1, parents of 48(80%) cases were blood relatives and 12(20%) were not blood-related. In Group-2, parents of 20(33.3%) cases were blood relatives, and parents of 40(66.6%) cases were not blood-related. The p–value <0.001 was considered significant as the p-value is < 0.05, and an odds ratio value of 8 indicates increased occurrence of congenital hearing loss in consanguineous marriages.

Conclusion: Consanguinity and cousin marriage are strongly related to congenital childhood sensorineural deafness; further studies are required to raise public awareness about this social issue.

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