The Frequency of Consanguineous Marriages and Their Effects on Offsprings in Tabriz City

Background: Too much diversity and an ever increasing number of genetic disorders appear as a big challenge in the coming future. One of the main sources of genetic disorders is the consanguineous marriages which are, unfortunately, very common in our society. Objectives: In order to prepare ourselves to accept the challenges regarding congenital mal-formations due to consanguineous marriages, the first step is to get complete information of their prevalence and their risk factors. Methods: The study was made during 2003-2007 in the city of Tabriz, Iran. We selected 6000 families and data was obtained via a questionnaire comprised of information including marital ages, number of pregnancies, type of delivery, ratio of consanguineous and non consan-guineous marriages, jobs of parents, and effects on child malformations. Results: Consanguineous marriages of all types were related with increased congenital mal-formations (with ratio 43/1000 for consanguineous marriages and for non consanguineous marriages 28/1000). Mother age less than 18 and more than 35 particularly was accompa-nied with increased malformations while education of mother came out to be inversely related to congenital malformation. Conclusion: Increased stillbirths, consanguineous marriage and malformations, especially of musculoskeletal system, require new planning on a national level to control and inform peo-ple of the consequences of consanguineous marriages